Mezzanine
by PaleFlutters
Summary: "What are you?" The response came faster than Axel thought it would. "Demon. Vampire. Nosferatu... call me what you please. I am not among the living or the dead. I simply exist." – Fantasy/Adventure AkuRoku. Full summary and other pairings inside.
1. Keep Your Temper

**Roxas -the strange new kid- has an interesting secret that Axel -the school bully- intends to find out. What he wasn't prepared for, was how life changing this 'little' secret would be. Follow the two in their star crossed attempt at high school life, and unlife. (Side pairings; SoRiku, XigDem, and CloudZack)**

**I do not own KH or it's characters.**

**Mezzanine**

_**Chapter One: Keep Your Temper**_

"_Hey, did you hear that some filthy rich dude bought off that old mansion behind the woods?"_

"_You mean the haunted one?"_

"_It's not haunted; it's just an old abandoned house is all."_

"_Yeah well you heard the stories that those three vampires used to live in there. Do you think he knows about them?"_

"_Vampires don't exist in real life, idiot. Only in the books and movies you know?"_

"_Then why have the rumors lasted so long dimwit?"_

"_Because people thrive off ghost stories like that to liven up our boring life, that's why."_

"_Either way, the guy has some nerve to buy a place like that. Haunted or not haunted. Vampires or no vampires. It's a part of our town, a part of our history, and this stranger out of nowhere snatches it up like it's the latest prize in auction or something. It also means we can't break into the place anymore."_

"_Speak for yourself. Besides, I think it's about time somebody cleaned and tidied up that creepy place."_

"_You know, I have the craziest feeling that he won't."_

.

"Alright kiddos! Summer break is over which means that hell high is back in business and the heavenly ten pound history books on your desk should be opened to the table of contents so we can blow over what we're covering this semester."

Not even five minutes into the first period of the day has the relentlessly infamous history teacher Xigbar of Twilight High School showed any trace of mercy upon his already groaning students. He was considered the sternest of the teachers but also the most upbeat; almost all of his pupils gave him credit for trying. Axel, just so happened to be one of them.

"Aw Xiggy we should at least discuss what happened during our vacation eh? Aren't you the least bit curious?" the brilliant redhead crooned teasingly at the back of the classroom.

The man with lengthy salt and pepper hair rolled his one dark eye and slightly adjusted the strap of his black eye patch to better comfort as he said, "Zip it fire crotch, we're here for educational purposes, not in any way concerning your wild partying tales."

The class stirred and giggled at this, the stiff atmosphere lifted promptly in fact. Axel had that effect on people. It was either you laughed until your sides hurt or you cried as he made them hurt. Some say he was respected as most say he was feared. He himself was barred in pride at both assumptions. If you hadn't known his name, he'd make sure as hell you had it memorized one way or another. That was just who he was, who he's always been and no one dared to change that.

Don't misjudge him just yet though, he wasn't your typical school bully. He didn't trash the freshman or break into lockers or even steal lunch money. No, he was feared for the reputation of that extremely heated temper of his. It wasn't short fused, but it was most certainly smoldering hot. The only reason he needed to beat the living day lights out of somebody, was if you ticked him off enough. He was respected greatly for it but that didn't mean he still wasn't feared, because he was.

Before another order was made from the male in charge, the softest rapping was heard at the door, almost inaudible. Luckily Xigbar had caught it over the low murmuring teenage voices. He cleared his throat and motioned with his hand towards the door, beckoning someone in. Two students in fact.

The mumbles from the class grew into full chat as all eyes fell upon two similar figures, one handing two yellow referrals to the said upbeat teacher. As he skimmed the lines on paper the whole class inexplicably soaked in the two boys' details. They must have been brothers, related in some way at least. One was taller with darker hair and lively clothes while the other was shorter bearing brighter hair and clad in leather. Undeniably, Axel's attention was caught the most. His eyes loomed over the younger looking one in dark pants and a skin tight leather jacket. Then he gazed over their latched arms and he winced as he decided he felt negative toward them.

"Sora Fair?" Xigbar asked.

The taller one sheepishly let go of the blond in dark attire and nodded soundlessly, Xigbar handed him back the yellow slip and pointed to an empty desk near the middle of the room. He took it shyly and followed to his seat.

The older man briefly fiddled with the second paper before giving it to the other boy, stating, "Roxas Strife. Its unfortunate news to say but the only open seat we have left is next to our class clown Ronald McDonald back there."

"I resent that." A voice resounded as more laughter bubbled.

Like the other one, he said nothing and swaggered to the back of the room with less shyness and more confidence as if he hadn't a care in the world. All eyes followed as he approached the back. The girls sighed and the boys gawked. Axel, did both, even if he didn't admit to it at first.

Shortly after Xigbar plucked the energy from the room again by stating the assignments and tests they needed to know for the year; it seemed that the two boys in the back had zoned him out. The first thing Axel noticed as he turned his attention to the right was the off brown color in Roxas' eyes, almost fake. Contacts maybe, he'd ask about that later. He fidgeted for a short period of time before deciding otherwise; chucking his teeth abused pencil at the boy. The yellow pencil hit him square in the jaw. It didn't look like it hurt but the lean redhead snorted anyway as the kid drew his bemused attention to his left.

"Are they contacts, Blondie?" Axel asked innocently, batting his lashes for kicks.

He stared the pencil thrower down ruthlessly, "My name's Roxas. Not Blondie." He said dully, taking the writing utensil and stuffing it into his black and white checkered side bag.

Thinly plucked crimson brows furrowed, puzzled, "Yeah, got it Roxas. That still leaves my question unanswered and also leaves me pencil-less for the day, unless you're the forgiving type."

"I'm not any kind of _type_," he retorted, bringing out a notebook and pen, clicking it to jot down the notes Xigbar was giving.

Axel shrugged, slipping down into his seat with his hands supporting the back of his head. "Fine by me. But just so you know, if you're interested in me that much, you don't have to steal my things to get my attention sweet thing," he said rather loudly, a few people even slightly turned to hone in on their conversation.

A rosy color appeared on the blondes cheeks as he seethed, "Yes. They're contacts. Now please leave me be."

"Was it really that hard to answer a question now? Come on, loosen up, Roxas. This class is going to be boring as hell if I don't get a chit chat buddy soon."

"Find someone else." He said curtly.

Axel couldn't help but let his mouth hang slightly gaping at him. This kid really didn't know who he was talking to, did he?

"You're not from around here huh?"

"What do you think?"

"I think," he emphasized, "that we're starting to get on the wrong side of things. And you see old Xiggy up there doesn't stand for switching seats even if a life depended on it. I'm trying to get acquainted, that's all. No harm done there, right?"

Roxas said nothing; merely taking notes like no one were disturbing him. Somehow the fuse was beginning to ignite. No. Simmer down. He shut his eyes and drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly and opening his lids only to find something else peculiar on the boy who was ignoring him. He wrote in neat cursive, too neat in fact but that didn't stir him nearly as much as the black leather gloves did. Summer wasn't completely over; it was hot and humid in fact. Why the jacket and gloves? His temper was long forgotten.

"What's with the mitts?"

He stopped writing, dull contact brown eyes returning to an emerald gaze. "Your powers of observation are only increasing with each moment." He said sarcastically.

Axel stared quizzically.

"In other words, you're getting annoying."

"Aw don't be like that. I'm just a curious oyster. I'm sure you'd like to ask a few questions in return right?"

This time Roxas stared dumbly.

"You know. People that want to get to know more about each other tend to ask questions like this."

The blond looked off in no special direction and appeared to mull his statement over. It wasn't every day Axel met someone bold enough to retort so hastily at him. Strangely, he took Roxas as an exception. He then looked back and flexed his thin gloved fingers.

"My hands are extremely sensitive. Gloving them helps a bunch from rashes or getting too cold or hot."

Not bad, a little strange no less, but they were getting somewhere.

Roxas shifted in his seat to face the inquisitor at a more proper position. "And you?" he gestured to the reverse black tear drops beneath each eye, "The ink real?"

"Of course, these babies are my pride and joy," Axel chuckled.

For the first time since he laid eyes on the new kid, he found his first smile. It was small, faint, and simple but it made it all the more gorgeous. And as if he said his thoughts aloud, the smile had vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. He was a piece of work alright. Just then, he remembered the boy that entered the room with him. His eyes narrowed daggers on the back of a brown spiked head sitting in the middle of the class group.

"So," he started sharply, "Your boyfriend's a little shy eh?"

"Cousin," Roxas snipped.

Axel let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, "Oh good because I was gonna have to whoop some ass in order to keep up with someone like you."

It was then he noticed those gloved hands clench tight into fists. Something didn't quite mix right with Axel at that moment. Something just… wasn't natural about the feeling in his gut. In fact he felt a little cold and flush. He also noticed a few people around him move with an unknown uneasiness. He even noticed goose bumps rise on his arms.

Roxas' face grew dark, sullen, before saying in a low gruff tone, "Take that back."

Again, the fuse was faced with sparks.

"I won't." Axel said firmly, "Learn to take a joke Blondie."

Roxas folded his hands into each other and rested his check into the fist, looking the other way and saying nothing else.

"I hope we're paying attention back there." Xigbar's booming voice suddenly came, snapping the two out of their brazing conversation.

Before either of the two could answer, bells chimed inharmoniously to alert the end of class. Seconds later, everyone stood ecstatically with their things and headed for their next course. Three boys however seemed to take their time.

"You two," Xigbar said behind his desk, "up front."

As they made their way towards the front of the room, the quaint brunet who went by the name Sora stood halfheartedly with his book snuggled close to his chest, his blue eyes filled with plea towards Roxas. If Axel wasn't mistaken, he looked terribly shaken. He scoffed, finding it pathetic.

"You take any notes Strife?"

Roxas silently shuffled through his bag, pulled out the dark notebook and flipped open to the first page, showing him the paper half filled with words. Xigbar nodded in somewhat of approval and turned to Axel, giving a look that needn't repeat the question in words.

"Sorry I was a little distracted," he grinned honestly.

"This is the first day kiddos. I'm being forgiving enough as it is okay? I don't mind if you guys talk back there but I do mind if you don't get work done. So this better not continue. Get it Axel?"

"Get it. Got it. Good." He sneered.

Just then Roxas stepped forwards a little. "Is it possible I can change seats?"

Xigbar pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "No."

After that said, Axel happily brushed by him and out the door. "See ya later Blondie!"

.

Soon enough twelve noon struck and all students bustled about the campus carrying trays of food or bags of lunch in hopes of finding a spot to sit and eat. Lunch signaled the perfect time for socialization with old friends and getting acquainted with new ones. However, two new students in particular had no such intentions of doing any of these things. Instead they found a dark quiet space in the back of the school where few students entered. They sat on the floor close together naively, soon finding out why little dared to trespass there.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in boys." A familiar voice proclaimed.

Blond and brunet heads perked upwards, finding none other than the lanky teenager with wild red hair, a more muscular boy with silver hair to the right of him and another one with a disheveled mullet fohawk to his left. All three had their arms crossed and cast down disapproving looks. Roxas immediately shot a glare at the tallest one in the middle. Then he felt his cousin's grip cling a little tighter for some reason.

"Hey Sora," the one with long silver hair said, "Long time no see."

Sora didn't respond and even hid his face a little behind the smaller figure who continued to leer dangerously at Axel, now hunkering over into a squat before them. He clicked his tongue against his teeth a couple of times, grinning with malice.

"Do you guys have any idea where you're sitting your lovely little tushes? Because if I remember correctly, we've been attending this school a whole lot longer than you have, little fairies. So I'm asking nicely," Axel's jaw clenched, irritated, "Fly away from our spot before things get ugly."

Sora cringed and picked up his bag, beginning to rise without question, Roxas held him back saying, "Sit. We're not going anywhere's. I didn't see your name or any name for that matter before I sat my tush down. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't give a damn if it was there or not. You don't own anything."

"Such a shame," the redhead breathed out heavily, "to meet under such harsh circumstances. I wish it went just the opposite."

"I don't," Roxas hissed.

Axel's face became swamped with ravenous vigor, cornering the blondes face. "High tail it Blondie."

"Make me, big red," he practically snarled.

"Axel," the dishwater blonde behind him whined, "You know I've got your back and all but I just don't do violence, you know that."

"Shut it, Demyx," the mercury haired boy interjected.

Suddenly Axel's pale rough fists ensnared the leather of Roxas' jacket, lifting him onto his feet and slamming his back into the brick wall behind him. Back on the floor, Sora gasped and pleaded incoherent words to Roxas.

"I said high tail it!" he screamed into his face, ignoring Sora's warning.

Roxas bellowed furiously in return, "_I said make me!_"

With one swift and almost unseen movement, Roxas' gloved hand delved into his attacker's collar bone, malevolently turning the tables to thrust Axel up high off the floor and viciously into the hard brick. Green eyes couldn't help but tremble as he tried to wriggle loose from the one hand pinning him to the wall. His feet kicked and he struggled aimlessly, attempting to get back onto the ground but to no avail. Then his jaw dropped, realizing he was swaying a good couple of feet in the air. This just wasn't natural.

Before Axel's allies on the side could make a move, Sora tackled the blond, sending the three of them tumbling to the floor. Surprise and awe filled Axel's visage as he winced, lightly touching the already bruising nape of his neck. Bringing his fingers down, he found spots of blood on his fingers. _What the hell?_ Shifting his vision over where the shorter one landed, he found him panting vigorously with one hand curiously stuffed into the inside of his jacket. Sora knelt in front of him, shaking his shoulders.

"What did I tell you!" the brunet scolded in a stern but hush voice, "Your dad's gonna have another bitch fit if he finds out you got into a fight again!"

_Again?_

"Did my contacts come out Sora?"

Axel could barely make out these words, they were so low. But he heard them, and they bewildered him all the more. Sora shook his head and lifted his cousin from the pavement and took both their bags, departing. Before they were out of sight down the hall, Sora turned and softly said, "Sorry Riku."

So much for respect and fear.


	2. The Lore

**I do not own KH or it's characters.**

**Mezzanine**

**_Chapter Two: The Lore_**

The hot tempered teen brooded, leaning against the front gates of Twilight High with a foot tucked beneath his rear to support his slouching form. Axel wasn't one for concealer but the ugly rings just below his eyes from lack of sleep wasn't flattering combined with his tattoos that just so happened to accentuate them. So today he made an exception.

Unlike concealing the shadows beneath his jade eyes he decided against hiding the purple and blue bruising at his neck, wearing a simple black shirt. However the shirt did obscure a few things from sight and even if not hidden, he himself hardly noticed they were there until he went home the previous day and analyzed the blemish more carefully. Within the bruise itself were five tiny holes, the skin broken and scabbed with coagulated blood. It explained the blood on his fingers that day but unfortunately it didn't explain how they got there in the first place.

The ominous dark sky above screamed the coming of autumn weather; it was chilly and even sprinkled faintly here and there. But he didn't feel it, only the thrumming in his head and ringing in his ears as he pondered endlessly of the day before and what mystery it held. Curiosity could only begin to describe the blunder in Axel's mind.

"That monstrous thing looks like a hickey gone sour," Demyx's voice came beside him, zipping up his fur trimmed coat for warmth.

Slightly breaking from concentration, Axel shrugged the comment off and peered past a throng of mingling teens and inside the cars pulling into the front lot. He found quite a few blond heads but none were near as bright as the particular color he was looking for.

"What exactly happened yesterday?" the shorter one asked timidly.

Of the three witnesses –including Axel– they hadn't spoken a word to each other about the assault gone wrong. It was mostly because they were never put in a situation like that before. Scratch that, it had everything to do with that. They never exploited weakness. _Axel_ never exploited weakness. The day would come he knew, where someone would be bold enough to take him on. Never like that though. Never so _unnaturally_.

He winced. "I don't know but I'm about to find out and if you don't mind I'm doing this by myself."

"Ouch," Demyx teased with a yawn, "no need for the cold shoulder dude. I'm just looking out for my buddy that's all."

"Thanks for considering but no thanks. This is something I need to do alone," he said in monotone.

He looked upwards, a little hurt. "You know I think it's about time someone whooped your hard ass for once because if I do say so myself, you need it."

"Yeah well my ass got handed to me okay?" He spun around and faced him with faint scorn beginning to show, "And you know what I think? I think that was just the tip of the iceberg he exposed. Imagine the outcome if Sora hadn't stopped him? Jesus this has been bugging me since it happened. I barely even managed to sleep last night."

Demyx watched him curiously, a broad smile now plastered across his lips. "You like him don't you?" He said in a sing song voice, nudging his side with an elbow.

Green eyes went a little wide. "What? No way. Wait a minute, what the hell are you doing here so early anyway? I thought you said you didn't do zero periods."

He scoffed. "Nice try Mr. Smooth but its not working, you can't change the subject that easily and get away with it. You dig him. Admit it. Tell me please?!" he whined with lips pouting.

"Answer my question and I'll answer yours."

"I asked first."

_Damn_. "Alright fine I think he's a little cute but that doesn't mean I'm gonna nail the kid alright?"

Clapping ecstatically, Demyx beamed, jumping up and down with excitement. "I knew it! I knew it! Okay we've totally got to hook you up with the little ninja."

Axel gaped. "Uh, yeah, _no_. Please don't tell me you already forgot that he nearly killed me, on school property no less. Besides it's your turn to answer my question."

"Oh right! Well it's nothing important, I'm just transferring to your class as a teacher's aid that's all. So anyways, he so did not attempt to murder you, be reasonable–"

"Whoa hold it!" he waved his arms, snorting a little. "You mean to tell me that your gonna be Xigbar's lap dog? No. Kiss ass?!"

The dirty blond blushed profusely. "Shut up. Aren't you glad I'm in one of your classes now?"

"Yeah don't forget the little ninja too." Sighing, his warm breath was seen hitting the icy air.

"Seriously!? Roxas is in the class too? I heard from Riku that he's only a junior. That's pretty cool of him to take a senior course," he cleared his throat smugly. "I hate to say I told you so but you should have totally taken my advice last year to take that class with me."

"Yeah well if I had listened to you, I wouldn't have the chance to be sitting next to him for rest of the school year." He shuffled his black sneakers in the gravel below him. "So I guess it doesn't really matter now."

Ignoring his statement, he continued on. "This fits so well and you sit next to him too! You can talk things out with him and everything will be perfect!"

Axel went silent. His face fell and he turned away to hide this. Demyx frowned, knowing that expression all too well. As arrogant and forward as Axel was; his biggest flaw was exposing the truth of his feelings. Something was definitely wrong. Demyx knew it wasn't his problem to handle and as much as he wanted to help, he also knew he'd only be pushed away if he tried.

Resting a reassuring hand onto his shoulder, he hoped it would console him in one way or another. Just as Demyx did this the familiar chime of bells alerted the students to head for class. Or was it just the ringing in the redhead's ears again? He couldn't tell.

"Come on big guy," his hand slipped off his shoulder, "let's go."

He turned the taller one around and the friends trekked slowly, a little farther into the campus. Then, they stopped. It wasn't registered what exactly it was that made them do this but they did it anyway. Shuddering bitterly, Axel suddenly felt the cold punch his senses, it was almost painful too. Simultaneously as the temperature dropped, a rumbling roar pierced the air at their backs. They turned and found a sleek midnight black motorcycle screeching into an empty parking space, two male figures masked with helmets mounting it. The driver kicked the metal stand outwards and stood to take the key out of the ignition, silencing the iron beast.

"Isn't that Roxas and Sora?" a blonde girl announced to her friend, just beside Axel and Demyx who stood there a little confused.

"Yeah," the girl with darker hair sighed in a daze, "It's only their second day here and it looks like they've already got all the girl's attentions, including me."

"Don't forget me too, Kairi!" the other one added before they took off gossiping down a hallway.

Demyx couldn't help but cackle into Axel's arm, saying, "Looks like you've got competition."

"Yeah, me versus the whole school. Joy." He said unenthusiastically.

Before Axel felt any need for the sarcasm to sweep away his worries, a blur of what was barely recognizable as Sora, dashed across their path. He seemed to be in a hurry, or was it avoidance? Perhaps it was both. And as they turned again they found none other than Roxas removing an onyx black helmet, his blond airborne spikes unscathed, expression unreadable, and dull brown contacts as inanimate as doll eyes. Axel couldn't help but stare at the peculiar boy passing by who gave no attention to either of their presence. He had a wonderful feeling that today should bring him something interesting.

.

"Gnarly hickey fire crotch." The smirking teacher commented as Axel entered the room with Demyx giggling at his side.

"Best believe it Xiggy." He responded absently and sucked in a harsh breath of air before heading towards what felt like his very own electric chair.

He tossed his binder onto his desk and slumped into the uncomfortable wooden seat. His gut feelings told him to face the boy he felt so desperate to confront just moments earlier but something else warned him to do just the opposite. To keep his mouth shut and forget the fight ever happened. But he wanted answers; he needed answers to settle the burning curiosity within. Curiosity killed the cat did it not? But then again, Axel was no kitten to begin with.

Xigbar settled the class down and began his lesson for the day, pulling forward a rather comfortable looking mobile chair for his new and excited aid who in fact gestured on numerous occasions towards Axel to make a move. This was pathetic really. Someone needed to nudge the notorious Axel Flurry to make a move that he could hardly act out in his head? Something was gravely wrong here. He wasn't about to sit back and do nothing about this.

He noticed from the corner of his eye that Roxas leaned over to pull out a writing utensil from his bag. Seizing the opportunity, he turned quickly and observed him. He hadn't looked too different from yesterday. Wearing the same tight leather jacket,–which he noted made more sense from riding a motorcycle– dark jeans, ankle high chuck taylors, a snug checkered scarf, and gloves that differed from the day before. _What the hell made this kid so strong?_

As he pulled out a lavish ball point pen, he also shuffled through his things and popped something inside the bag. A rattling was heard and he quickly brought his fingers to his lips, stuffing two large forest green pills into his mouth. As he swallowed them, his gaze went to meet Axel's but at the last minute he averted them and casually jotted his name and date at the top of his notebook as if nothing happened. Oddly enough, he considered the pills to be the cause of his abnormal strength but now he was getting a little too far fetch even for his own taste.

Deciding it was best to strike up a conversation instead of enduring the thick silence between them any longer; he set his cheap pen down and cleared his throat. "Where's your helmet, Evel Knievel?"

Roxas' body stiffened then reared up with a leer that would possibly do Satan proud. "You've got the balls to still talk to me, Ronald McDonald?"

Axel let a small smile play at his mouth as he leaned closer to him, answering softly, "I do."

"I'll give you props for that but I'm afraid that's all you're gonna get out of me," he said as a matter of fact, whirling his pen between his leather cloaked fingers.

"Why?"

His features hardened. "Because you annoy me."

"Well that makes it a mutual feeling then." Axel replied honestly.

"Then piss off."

"No."

"Why the hell not?"

He straightened his posture and his voice became low so only they would be the wiser. "Because I can't help but notice something different about you. Other than the fact that you lifted me up a few feet off the ground and gave me a real pretty mark to show off to the happy oblivious world."

Roxas clicked his pen repeatedly with a strong indifference. "You brought it onto yourself in the first place and besides you were against the wall for leverage anyway."

"You did it with one hand."

Silence settled between them. The blond crossed one leg over another and flipped his book open and went straight to work. So that was it. Something really _is_ off about him and he's doing a pretty poor job at hiding it. He'll be damned if he didn't find out what it was soon.

"I'm curious," Axel crooned mischievously, "How tall are you?"

No reply came.

"How about your weight?" he pressed. "You can't possibly weigh more than me."

The boy opposing him slapped his pen down in frustration, even catching other people's attention as he faced him again. "Ask all the questions you want, I won't give you any answers."

His smile grew. "Any question?"

"I don't care, I still won't answer."

"Roxas…" Axel whispered gently. "What are you?"

He paused, as if questioning himself whether to answer or not. Then his face became bemused again. "You have got to be _the_ most idiotic, persistent guy I've ever met in my entire life and let me tell you I've come across a lot."

His thin red brows arched up high. "Have you now? Does this officially mean you prefer the same sex?"

He shook his head disdainfully. "It doesn't mean anything, just be quiet I'm trying to do my work unlike some people."

"So you _are_ gay."

"I didn't say I was." He spat.

"But you didn't say you weren't." The other countered.

Roxas was becoming impatient fast. "What do you want from me?"

"A fresh start, is that too much to ask for?"

"What's _your_ opinion Flurry?" The teacher's unexpected voice intruded, everyone's attention turning towards the back of the class.

Axel froze like an undeniably cliché deer in headlights, while Roxas on the other hand produced a smile that held everything but charm. This slightly pissed him off. The confused redhead faced the front and laughed nervously. "My opinion?"

Xigbar sat against the front of his desk and folded his hands neatly in his lap. "Yes. Your opinion Axel. Which would you prefer to hear? Don't tell me my most attentive student wasn't paying attention to our lesson. This is shocking news."

Laughter ensued and Axel found himself blushing, awkwardly wanting to slip under his desk and hide his embarrassment from the teasing stares and this boggled him endlessly. Since when did Axel expose nervous eyes and pink cheeks? Especially towards the boy next to him who seemed to be enjoying himself the most. He cursed inwardly and hoped his bad karma would part its way soon.

"Well," the man enlightened, "We happened to be debating on whether I'd teach the factual history of our town or a version more on the lore side of things."

Immediately Axel's anxious state was washing away as he sighed in relief. "I'll take an urban legend over a history lesson any day."

"Then its settled." He said promptly, raising himself to a standing position.

He began striding to and fro across the front row of seats, turning sharply on the ball of his heels before approaching the end of walking distance. "I'm sure you've all heard of our past warriors. The indestructible three whom put their lives on the line for us, who opposed the heartless son of a bitches who dared to ravage our town and attempt to overthrow our past monarchy."

A few shifted nervously in their seats at his choice of words while others snickered happily. Oh yes. Xigbar was just one of those awesome teachers like that. He continued on with faint hand gestures here and there.

"Terra, Aqua, and Ventus; the fond saviors of our past time." He said coarsely.

A fair blond amidst the room suddenly became uneasy, bearing an expression that only read 'get me out of here'. Axel appeared to be the only one to notice this. The lecture was nothing new to him, he was taught this ever since he could remember. Nothing unusual about it, if anything he was simply brought up on these tales. What had Roxas looking so uncomfortable? This intrigued him all the more as he tuned in on Xigbar's words.

"Well an old fable goes that the said indestructible trio was impossible to defeat because of immortality."

Numerous negative grunts and snorts of disbelief were heard as Roxas remained silent, even avoiding the spiel altogether by doodling aimlessly at the corner of his notebook.

"If they were immortal, they wouldn't be dust and we wouldn't be reading about their past glory days in a history class," a boy at the right side of the room added abruptly.

"Very true Hayner, but interrupt me one more time and I'll give you an extra page of homework to do tonight." The boy who went by Hayner rolled his eyes and slumped lazily. Xigbar tilted his head, continuing. "Now where was I? Ah yes, everlasting life."

We've never known any immortals in our time so it's hard to tell what the rules and boundaries are for mythical beings that outlast the lives of others. But when I grew up, I was told different stories than what you kiddos have been raised on. I'm sure you've been taught that these three were our defenders, our guardians so to speak at one time. But I on the other hand was taught that they were heroes. That they were magical and otherworldly people who put themselves before others who unlike like them were humans."

He sat on the edge of his desk again, Demyx just to the side listening intently with large curious teal irises. "Well, obviously the three fell from existence, supposedly died in their last battle to defend us. But it was said that the youngest of the three survived the ordeal. The wayward sword wielding, Ventus."

Axel heard a snapping sound beside him that broke his train of thought. Looking to Roxas, he discovered black ink spilling across his desk. His expression was feral, almost frightening to look at. He seemed to care less that his pen had just erupted stain-worthy blotches all over his work, now dripping onto his legs. Speaking in which, Axel noticed the pen clutched in his right hand was only the bottom half; the top half was nearly crushed in his left. Chills produced all over and again he refused to say anything, feeling much like how he did when he first entered the class. _Weak and powerless_.

The instructor swayed his head, tossing the black length of his pony tail aside. "So rumor has it that he still walks among us, hidden from the world but still protecting us in little ways."

Hayner's hand rose with obvious hesitance and giggles emerged from the sea of teens. Xigbar sighed heavily and nodded for him to speak. He did.

"A friend told me that they thought they were vampires."

The sound of metal legs shifting across the floor emitted, the redhead's attention went to the middle of the room where the sound came. Sora continuously stirred in his seat, as if attempting to find a more comfortable position to sit. Axel's face slightly scrunched. _What the hell is going on?_

"It's possible. Anything is possible really. I've personally heard that too, more so than you know." His chocolate brown eye went to the floor for a moment then directed back to his students. "But I think I know who might have an opinion on all of this. Would you like to add anything Strife?"

Someone half gasped, Axel could have sworn it came from Sora but he was too preoccupied at staring down Roxas who strangely looked calm and content now as compared to just a few moments earlier. He placed the two halves of the pen down gently and cocked his head towards the teacher. Everyone gawked at the brown eyed glaring boy at the back of the room.

"Excuse me?" he asked dryly.

Xigbar chuckled softly. "No need to be dense dude, I'm just pulling your leg. I heard your dad bought the old mansion though. I just thought I'd like to throw you some free bragging rights your way."

A barrage of questions buzzed across the room, some hushed, and some flat out loud and obnoxious. Everybody and their mothers knew the old abandoned mansion was alleged to be haunted, left for dead as its previous owners were. Or at least two of the three owners were.

"You _live_ there?" Axel couldn't help but interrogate too, only to be answered with a swift 'leave me alone' look.

Xigbar brought his hands together into a clap, rubbing them together for friction after. "Alright then, story time's over kitties. I'd like for you to answer all the questions on the chapter review page and I'll be handing out lovely study guides and worksheets for homework."

Whines educed again as the class dreaded at the amount of work they were already getting. Few however could care less. One included Demyx who beamed sunshine and joy as he printed out the assignments at Xigbar's desk. As for the other few, they stayed stiff and uncomfortable at the previous topic said. Preferably two at the back.

.

"I'm not complaining about what happened during zero period but what the hell was that all about?" Axel took a large bite into his peanut butter and banana sandwich.

"What?" Riku questioned awkwardly.

Demyx perked up, finished chewing the food in his mouth and grinned. "Xigbar. He occasionally tells these awesome fairy tale-like stories to liven up the mood every once in a while. He did the same thing last year, don't you remember Riku?"

He rolled his aquamarine eyes. "Not really. I zone out the teachers, can't really stand listening to their annoying 'I know everything' voices."

Demyx pouted slightly. "Aw but he's cool though!"

The redhead snorted. "Yeaaah. I heard he's never given _anybody_ an A. So… what grade did you get again last year, kiss ass?"

"Oh come on, he's had to have given other students an A too. And stop calling me that."

Riku cast a mischievous grin. "I _wonder_ what you did to get him to give you that A, Demy."

Demyx's face flushed a shade of crimson as brilliant as Axel's hair. A small peep came from his lips but then he nestled down in his sitting position and continued to eat his lunch as if nothing was said. The teasing continued between Riku and the silent mulleted teen but Axel couldn't help but daze off about –surprise surprise– the feisty blond.

Then suddenly like a lit match in flame, an idea came to mind that was sure to give him answers. It was a stupid idea no less but it was an idea all the same. He dropped his food down, feeling hungry no more as he delved deeper into his thought. He would wait for the perfect opportunity to part for the mysterious mansion and find his answers there.

He wasn't thinking of breaking and entering though, no. He's had plenty of his share of breaking into the place as a kid that he knew the place inside out. He wouldn't need to do that again. He only needed a good distance from the outside gates in fact. Just to peak at the place and what changes it's made and if he could even possibly be allowed inside. That thought alone had his stomach doing somersaults. He then observed his friends closely. He wouldn't breathe a word to them about this. Not now at least. This was his secret. His mission. A quest he subconsciously held dear to his heart.


	3. Night Terrors

**I do not own KH or it's characters.**

**Mezzanine**

**_Chapter Three: Night Terrors_**

Two weeks, it took for the perfect opportunity to arise. Not that Axel wished for the time to be sooner than later and although he did, it hadn't bothered him the slightest bit since it was only the second Friday into the new school year. This time also gave him a chance to discover new things about the boy he suddenly grew so fascinated by. Like how he was the epitome of all loners. Or how he was strangely fawned over and sought after by almost every girl _and_ boy who attended Twilight High. That part sickened him, and yet he was sickened most to know he was among those seeking his affection.

Axel liked to think of them as friends but he knew quite plain as day that they were far from friendship. He respected that and at the same time loathed it. Roxas was quiet, even skittish on occasions and kept to himself and his cousin; distancing themselves from high school society. The redhead noticed over the days that he began to talk a little more, sharing opinions and thoughts but he never seemed to let his guard down for even an instant. Anger would flare every now and then but it wouldn't escalate to the violence they both displayed when they first met. There was a flirtatious pinch here and a vindictive punch there but nothing more than this. Like silent secrets unknown to each other, they both made sure it went no farther than that.

Why the perfect opportunity two weeks from the day he decided to get his questions answered? Because of his mad listening skills –otherwise known as eavesdropping– and when he happened to overhear Roxas explaining to Sora that this very Friday –today– he and his father wouldn't be at home because of family matters. It was the set icing to his cake. He refused to think it was stalker-like of him to plan on following him home without his knowledge… and to raid his lavish mansion for his own selfish answers. No. Friends do these kinds of things all the time. Right? Well, he was convincing himself it was a good intention so therefore this totally didn't make him a stalker. Yeah, he kept telling himself that.

The school time routine had kicked in quickly, so getting up at the ass crack of dawn wasn't much of a bother to Axel anymore. Maybe it was because his first class held a mystery all its own? No. The gaunt teenager shook his head and rubbed his sore eye lids. He's taking things too fast, too soon, too much to handle right now. Or was he just responding to the situation how any other curious person would respond? He drew in a deep breath of relaxing air and–

"Axel you're here already what the hell?!"

He half choked out his breath and grimaced at the boy prancing towards his seat in the back of the empty classroom. "Good morning to you too, Demyx," he said with obvious bitterness.

"Oh I think somebody just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, Mr. Grumpy Gills," he sucked in the insides of his cheeks and wriggled his puckered lips.

"You've got to be kidding me Demyx, how many times have you seen that damn fish movie?" he massaged his temples. "Finding Emo or whatever the hell it's called. You seriously need to get a life."

Taken back by this, his jaw appeared to unhinge as he teasingly slugged at Axel's arm. "It's _Finding Nemo_!"he corrected suddenly and slinked into Roxas' unoccupied desk,"I don't get enough of that awesome movie for your information and my life is just fine the way it is thank you very much. What about yours huh? Ever think about watching a Disney movie every now and then or asking a certain little blond ninja out on a date? Talk to me then and maybe _just maybe_ I'll get a better life but for now, I'm pleased with the one I've got, Mr. Grumpy Gills. And I'm serious, what the hell are you doing here so early? Xigbar hasn't even gotten here."

Axel briefly peered around and sure enough the room lacked a teacher. He huffed, rubbing at the back of his neck and reminded himself to steer clear of the tender bruise that reduced in size and color over the weeks. "I don't know… I woke up early and figured I'd come to muse I guess. And when I got here the door was open so I figured Xiggy was here too but I guess he took off."

Demyx's face scrunched in disbelief. He decided he wouldn't question any further though. He shrugged. "Whatever," his gaze strayed downwards. "What the hell happened to this kid's desk?"

Axel watched the other teen's fingers trace along the stained trails of black ink down the wooden surface. He cringed. A little voice at the back of his head told him to keep Roxas' queer actions on the down low. So he did. He wouldn't dare risk suspicion from his friends when he was so close to understanding him on his own.

"The ink from his pen leaked the other day." He replied casually.

"More like spontaneously combusted," Demyx snorted. His face suddenly became strained in thought for a moment before glancing in his friend's direction but his stare was lowered to the floor, not making any eye contact. "Do you still think about what happened that day? I mean like, rationalizing what he did. Because I can't for the life of me figure it out. People can be strong… but that was just…"

"Abnormal?" he finished for him apathetically.

"Yeah," he responded. "For having such an innocent appearance, that kid is pretty intimidating when you tick him off. He's just as irritable as you are Ax."

_If anything more irritable_, Axel thought. "Well, like you suggested, he probably just takes some sort of self defense classes or something."

Demyx gawked. "Self defense?" he echoed, "Self defense on crack and steroids is more like it. Speaking in which, haven't you ever seen him popping pills like there's no tomorrow?"

"Yeah, and they definitely aren't Flintstones Vitamins either," he said, ruffling a hand through his fiery locks.

"Well whatever they are, I wouldn't mind snagging some of those and giving them a run for their money if you know what I mean."

"No, what do you mean dear Demyx?" a deep voice intruded at the door.

The two startled boys flinched at the words, whipping around to find their lean teacher arrayed in a dark coat and slacks paired with a disgruntled white collared top strolling in towards his workplace leisurely. A heap of beige folders was tucked under an arm while he sipped at a tall coffee cup in his opposing hand. Axel felt heavily relieved it wasn't the blond who invaded their small talk. But he felt invaded nonetheless.

"O-oh nothing Xigbar, we were just chattering teenage nonsense. It's nothing whatever r-right Axel?" Demyx sputtered, his eyes pleading for his friend to help.

"Nothing whatever," the hot head deadpanned.

Xigbar laughed softly, plopping the folders and files onto his desk. He raised the coffee to his lips again and took a few good gulps while beckoning with his finger at them. He swallowed the last of it with a grunt and tossed the empty cup into the waste bin on the floor. "I've got a job for you Demy."

Axel rolled his tongue briskly, making a quiet purring noise towards the flush boy beside him, whispering, "Go get 'em tiger."

He received a curt back hand slap at his sore bruise, causing a pained groan as Demyx left towards the teacher. Following this the bells rang to alert the start of class while Axel gingerly prodded at the stinging blemish. Almost immediately, one by one, students walked into the class until it was finally filled with spent teens. And at the last ringing of bells, the two familiar cousins trudged inside with no rush. Sora held a weary expression on his youthful face and Roxas on the other hand –who lagged behind the brunet– strikingly looked like he was on death row. His complexion was unhealthily pale, eyes encircled with dark rings, and he walked with an obvious fatigue. Axel's stomach reeled at the sight.

As soon as Roxas limply tumbled into his chair Axel leaned over cautiously with concern etched across his strong facial features. "Whoa, you don't look too hot kid. Did you get any sleep?"

He blinked a few times before answering him with a slur. "Don't call me kid and yes, I had plenty of sleep last night."

"Just checking," he reassured.

Something was wrong. Roxas was masking this. And Axel saw right through it. He stirred uncomfortably in his seat, wanting so much to find out the problem but he knew prying wouldn't do any good. He knew when people pried for answers; they were surely not going to get them. Especially if they wanted them from stubborn people. He knew this best because he was one of those persons. So he swallowed his pride and organized his work together neatly to distract his inquiries.

Xigbar however continued to do what he did best; bombarding his students with endless work, random pop quizzes, and relentlessly giving heaps of homework that stuffed up the wazoo. And again, two males at the back felt indifferent all the same. Zoning out initiated as soon as the teacher began talking. It became a ritual-like system that had grown over time. It sufficiently worked for Roxas and Axel.

Through the thick silence between them, Roxas pulled his black and white checkered bag from the floor onto his lap. His leather gloved hands frisked through his things and his snooping neighbor's eyes were focused on what was happening. The blond uttered profanities as he brought out a large empty orange prescription bottle, tapping it against his desk dully. He stayed motionless for a while before chucking it angrily back into his bag and dropping it next to his feet. His familiar glare was cast across to Axel.

He raised his hands in a guilt free manner and gave him a charming smile. "Are you out of your happy pills Roxy-bear?" he patronized.

"Shut up."

Axel wriggled his brows and quietly shuffled his desk closer to Roxas who now had his arms crossed, looking the other way. "What are they anyway?" The senior wasn't entirely sure why he had asked this when he just confirmed not to pry but he did it anyhow just for the sake of asking.

"Iron supplements," Roxas said dryly.

Green irises bulged slightly at the answer. He eyeballed Roxas oddly for a few moments before considering asking a few more. It wouldn't hurt. Right? He had answered one personal question today. Perhaps one would turn into two, if he got lucky, two would become many, and many would satisfy him more than enough. He tested his luck with eagerness.

"Iron supplements?" he repeated. "What for? Are you anemic or something?"

Roxas' eye lids drooped tiredly before nodding. "I have an ineffective hematopoiesis. So in other words my body doesn't produce enough red blood cells."

Shocked by the news, yet excited to learn more, Axel soaked this in with more of an understanding. "I didn't know. Will you be alright though? Without your happy pills that is. You can always see the nurse if you're under the weather Roxy-bear."

His artificial honey brown eyes snapped wide in annoyance. "Stop calling me that. And I'll be fine so leave me alone."

The other teased with a smirk. "Whatever you say Blondie."

.

The end of the school day arrived sooner than expected and no other was happier than Axel Flurry. He shifted through the bustling crowd of teens anxious that the weekend had come. He even spotted Riku in the crowd who had just left Sora's side, his expression firm and a little wounded. With a hand running through his silver gleaming hair, he connected eyes with Axel and nodded a soundless goodbye as he sped in the opposite direction. This boggled him momentarily but decided he'd ask about it later. He had more important things to attend to.

He happily made his way through the barrage of cars towards his towering black pick up truck, tossing his suede back pack into the empty gray bedding. Before he scrambled inside to drive off in order to kill time until later that evening, an icy feeling wavered across his back. Instincts pleaded for him to turn. The rebel did just this. He pivoted sharply and the first person he found was Roxas, staggering almost drunkenly across his path. Axel cleared his throat loudly.

"You okay Roxas?"

He didn't answer and continued to stumble across the lot. Sweat glossed his ghost white face, turning in the direction where the words came from and his dark contacts wandered for something to concentrate on but seemed to find nothing of interest. Axel's heart pounded wildly, approaching the swaying boy. As he did this, Roxas' eyes rolled back white with his knees buckling beneath him. He rushed forwards, arms strewn around the collapsing blond, catching him before his limp body collided against the pavement.

He struggled to keep the other body up but managed to do so anyway. His shaky gaze whipped around every which way, finding a few people watching the scene. Oh no. Attention isn't what he needed. He looked down to the frail boy in his arms, his brows knit together in discomfort. Roxas needed attention though… quickly too. He drew up his eyes once more and luckily found Sora leaning lethargically against the slick motorcycle, probably waiting for his cousin. He needn't wait any longer.

"Sora!" Axel cried out in his direction.

The brunet jolted at his name and quickly spotted the two across the way, dashing over with a look of fear that had Axel a little nervous.

"What did you do to him!?" he screeched, hunkering over his cousin and placing his hands against Roxas' clammy cheeks.

"I didn't do anything!" he retorted, hoping to the heavens above that the crowd around him would take a hike before he pummeled each and every one of them. "He was walking and he just keeled over I swear. Uhh... he said something about his iron pills this morning though. He ran out of them; I think that might be it."

Sora's face fell. "He told you about them?"

"Yeah. Look, I don't know his condition or if you've gone through this before with him but he needs to get to a hospital or–"

"_No_," he said firmly. He watched his relative dolefully, looking back to the motorcycle with a pained worry. "Could you do me a favor, Axel? I'm real sorry about what happened the first day and everything, Roxas isn't good with people if you didn't already notice but… we'd appreciate it if you could give us a lift home?"

He blinked at Sora calmly, then down at Roxas in his arms who breathed heavily as if sleeping. Everything happens for a reason he supposed. Axel gave a nod in approval and Sora sighed with a smile, thanking him continuously. Both of them carefully lifted the unconscious boy's body into the middle seat where the brunet sat next to him and buckled them both in. And as Axel went to retrieve the sporty motorcycle, he leered dangerously at nosy onlookers that turned on the spot as soon as the notorious redhead crossed their way.

_This is it_, he thought as he kicked the bike's stand and steered it towards the back of his truck. The warmth from Roxas' body still lingered across his arms and chest. This sent a blush along the apples of his cheeks. Roxas needed his help, and he was finally able to give that to him. Conscious or not. It hardly mattered.

.

There was only one word to describe Axel's current mood, _pissed_. He tightened his grip around the steering wheel and attempted to calm himself again. It wasn't his fault Roxas fainted. It also wasn't his fault for being so intrigued by him. But what _was _his fault was his lack of patience. His truck, ticking from the heat of the engine from being used was parked just at the entrance of the woods which led further to the old legendary mansion that now belonged to Roxas. He had only caught a glimpse of the lavish estate when he dropped off the boys.

Axel insisted –politely too mind you– that he could help further to carry the blond into the house but Sora was more stubborn than he appeared. He bluntly refused to allow him inside and yet he waited for a nerve wracking twenty minutes before Sora came back from the house Roxas-less and was promptly lifted back to his own house which wasn't too far away. Yeah, he made sure his car door hadn't hit his fat ass on the way out. Or did it? He was fuming too much to remember.

So there he sat, pouting at nothing as hours passed and the sky was beginning to grow dark. That was it. He could take no more. He swung open the truck's door and hopped out, slamming it hard before taking off into the shadowy woods. Something told him he'd regret doing this but in the moment, his conscious was something tucked far away at a corner of his mind. And Axel wasn't one for going back once his mind was set on something. He got what he wanted and if not, he strived for it like it was his objective in life.

Night slinked its pink and lavender hues slowly across the sky as he approached the locked wrought iron gates, easily clambering up and over it, dropping to the grass with a soft thud. It definitely wasn't his first time doing this but it did differ from the other occasions of sneaking in. There was someone inside who held answers to all his stirring questions.

Then suddenly a small object whacked at the back of his spiked vermilion head. He turned fast and all but the trees stood behind him. As he looked down, he discovered a bright golden pencil at his feet. It was unmistakably dented and cut by teeth. He retrieved it to have a closer look, feeling it strongly resembled a pencil he had misplaced when…

"Can I help you?"

The voice was heard just along the lining of his collar bone. It wasn't deep or threatening, hell it wasn't even scary. Just a simple question at his back. Axel whipped around for a second time, finding Roxas standing a fair distance between himself and the mansion bearing an unusual grin on his cracked lips. His color had returned to his face and he looked as happy as a clam. He presented himself as if nothing had happened to him today. This on the other hand terrified the taller one.

"Can I help you?" he asked again.

Confused, Axel stuttered incoherent words, hoping something smart would come up but nothing did. The shorter one simply reached out and hooked his hand with his own, turning to lead the now hushed senior to the front door. Axel's heart skipped pleasantly as he squeezed the black leathered hand in return.

"Thank you for helping me today Axel," he stated, calmly opening the door. "I'd like it very much if you to met my father."

He nearly choked and died at his words. His father? Wait… weren't they supposed to develop a friendship first? Hang out, go on a few dates, get to know each other's likes and dislikes like how all relationships start off? He couldn't believe how childish he was responding to learn he was going to be introduced to more of his family. His father no less. But the moment he stepped inside, his stress was long forgotten.

It was brighter than he remembered as a child. It was cleaner too. Also filled to the brim with costly looking show cases at every corner he turned. Glass boxes enclosed fancy art models. A gold and crystal chandelier hung brilliantly above their heads. And the once bland brown duo staircase was now glossed and painted over white with gold embellishment. He couldn't help but gawk at how beautiful it looked when compared to his memory of a dusty, cobwebbed infested spook house. It was whimsical to say the least.

Then suddenly the taller one's heart leapt into his throat as a man in a get up as fine as his home also mirroring an older version of Roxas, declined down the left side of the stairs. Like touching fire, Axel's hand violently unclasped from the blond's. He looked damn near identical to his peer, down to the wild and shameless spikes at the top of his head. His stern azure eyes differed greatly though. They nearly pierced through the intruder's entire being.

"Roxas." He proclaimed, intimidating blue eyes never leaving Axel's. "Who is this? More importantly, what the hell is he doing here?"

Axel mentally cursed, finding it near impossible to swallow the rising bile in his throat. What the hell was going on? Why was he freaking out? It was just a man. A rich man with power. Roxas' father who happens to be a rich man with power. Yup, he's screwed.

"Classmate from school, Father," he beamed with a smile that fascinated the redhead and scared him simultaneously. "He's the one who took me home. He dropped by to say hello again."

He forced a sheepish and toothy smile. "H-Hello?"

His father faced him more directly now, just a few inches taller than the teen. "Your name," he monotoned.

"A-Axel," he peeped, then inwardly smacked himself, mustering up the normal depth in his voice. "Axel Flurry, sir."

"By any chance, Flurry," he emphasized. "Did my son stress at all that strangers are strictly unwelcome in my home?"

"No sir, I honestly just came by to–"

"To meddle in someone else's private life? Pray tell, why are you really here Axel Flurry?" His arms folded into each other and his son just to the side of him snickered silently. Ah, so this was his vengeance. Of course, he should have seen this coming. Payback was definitely a bitch.

"I wanted to see Roxas," he replied. "I was worried about his health."

Roxas' sneering expression didn't last much longer. In fact, he looked profoundly puzzled. Why would someone worry over his health? Not many had done that before. And off subject, why the hell was Roxas' Dad eying Axel's neck? The older man stepped forwards without blinking, earning the younger one to step back nervously. The man reached outwards and tugged down his black collar slightly.

"How did you get that?" his voice grew low. His fingers grazed across the small green and purple blotches, the five tiny scabs still present too. Roxas stared transfixed on it as well. He then removed his hand and motioned to his son. "Did he do this?"

"No."

Roxas winced at the answer. Greatly wishing he hadn't dragged him into this now. He knew this was slipping out of his hands and into those of fates. He loathed fate, anything and everything to do with it. Now was a time he also wished for an escape. To his misfortune, he had to pull through along with the brave soul beside him.

"You reek of dishonesty," his father spat. "Now tell me… do you find anything interesting about Roxas? Anything captivating? Anything alluring? Inhuman qualities perhaps?"

The shorter blond turned on his swift high top converse, snatching Axel's hand again to roughly jerk him back to the door. A jubilant manic chortle echoed behind them that gave Axel the chills. Roxas pulled at the large door and gestured for him to part ways. He stepped out onto the wide stone porch and searched the boy's features for some form of clue as to what was going on. Roxas stood in between the half opened door, light spilling out into the blackness of the night and highlighting the contours of the bewildered seventeen year old's figure.

"I'm so sorry," he said with hurt in his tone. "To bring you into this."

"What are you talking a–" the door bitterly shut at his face, ending their conversation abruptly.

He'll be damned if he didn't get one question answered at least. Straightening his posture, he raised a fist to knock at the door, and then pondered for a moment. He knew a better way. Well, a sneakier way at least. He tip toed down the steps and hunched over, making his way towards the side window. Squatting below the window pane, he attempted to peak his head upwards over for a gander but feared of being seen. So he tuned in intently to the loud conversation inside that was becoming increasingly louder by the moment.

"How dare you invite in that meat-boy to our home, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking 'hmm I hope Cloud is gonna love him to bits when I introduce you two'."

"Why do you still call me by my name and not–"

"I will address you however I please. And I will not call you Father until you ever decide on beginning to act like one."

"Your mother would not stand for this!"

"My mother is _dead_ because of my sole existence!"

A ringing slap was heard and Axel winced at this. A tense and almost deafening silence took its place soon after. Seconds became moments. Moments became minutes. And the impatient eavesdropper needed an update pronto. The fear of being discovered was put aside as he reared up and spied beyond the glass window. His father, Cloud, was nowhere in sight and Roxas stood alone, his cheek red and he had painfully gained five slits with thick crimson substance steadily flowing from them.

Before the spy could even think about doing anything, the injured boy rapidly placed his two leather fingers at his eyes, removing the dark lenses to reveal big cobalt blue irises that left Axel speechless. His next move however did the opposite. He squeezed his eyes shut and the long gashes upon his face sucked back in the oozing blood; the wounds closing unscathed.

A strangled whimper elicited from Axel's lips, his hands clapping against his mouth to silence himself. He panicked more when the blond who now shook with anger, twitched his head attentively towards the window. That did it. Axel sprung from his crouch and took off, climbing desperately over the gates again, gracelessly plummeting to the ground and dashing into the darkness of the woods. He ran like hell too. He wasn't sure if his paranoia was getting the better half of him but he could have sworn he heard a pace of running feet just behind his own. This only encouraged him to sprint faster.

He cursed loudly to his horror, not recognizing the path at night. Everything looked the same. The towering trees leaned in an identical mockery. The floor beneath his quick feet was virtually black and the terrain felt the same every which way he went. At this point it didn't matter, as long as he was away. Far away.

His breathing became shallow and he noticed he was burning too much energy much too quickly. _Dammit_, this wasn't good. He ran aimlessly within the forest, hoping with every fiber in his petrified being that his truck was close by and that Roxas was still inside his home with no intention of following him. It felt as if hours had passed and this frightened him. But faint rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs around him frightened Axel even more.

_Air_. He wheezed, noticing his pace was slowing drastically. His sides ached profoundly, his mouth was dry, his heart thrummed heavily, and he still had no clue where he was. As a last resort, he stumbled beneath a hedge and threw his body across the dirty floor, panting desperately for oxygen. He attempted to slow down his harsh breaths but this made him see stars, his body feeling faint and nauseous. Then, a groaning sound quickly hushed his loud actions as he listened carefully to the noises of the night.

He quietly huddled against the thorny brush and drew his knees to his chest defensively. The sounds emitting were hardly what he considered normal forest noises. Grunts and whines echoed all around him. He even noticed dark little figures scurry about between the trees. He shut his eyes momentarily and opened them; hoping to see the comforting walls of his room and to feel the wave of relief when he realized it was just a nightmare, only a foolish night terror. But none of this came. Instead his dialated emerald eyes met a pair of enormous glowing yellow ones that were upon an ebony creature's face. He paled.

Suddenly it yelped as it was forcefully jerked away from his face, it's little body hurled across the forest and smashed into a tree with a nasty crunch. It fell to the floor, motionless. Its attacker was a figure much taller and more familiar… it was Roxas. His head hung low and he panted loud, snarls educing when he exhaled. Axel noticed something off about his appearance though. For once, he bore no gloves. His hands were fair against the rest of his complexion but a dark liquid trickled from his fingers and at the tips were tough pointed claws.

Axel gaped and Roxas' head rose slowly. Blue eyes were long gone, replaced by feral burning ones as scarlet as blood. Then he growled, bearing his sharp and elongated canines. One word slipped from his ravenous mouth. Just one. It was enough.

"_Mine…_"

Without warning, Axel's world went black.


	4. A Subtle Settle

**I do not own KH or it's characters.**

**Mezzanine**

_**Chapter Four: A Subtle Settle**_

_All because of you. __I believe in angels. __Not the kind with wings. __No not the kind with halos. _

_The kind that bring you home. __When hope becomes a strange place. __I'll follow your voice. __All you have to do is shout it out._

_The Good Left Undone - Rise Against_

Eyelids fluttered open haphazardly, finding it difficult to see at first, like gazing into the far distance of the hazy heat rising off a black top. Visionless. Then as tired eyes focused there was white, lots and lots of white. Axel struggled to raise his upper body but he managed to shakily do so anyway, propping his wobbling elbows against freezing white sheets. Wait, his bed sheets are black. He was fully awake now. He lurched forwards with a start and felt a painful tug at his left forearm. Finding translucent tubes probed into his veins, he massaged at the aching area around them and disregarded the unfashionable tags on his wrist. The illuminating orange morning glow filtered into the hospital room from behind a window that lacked blinds. He shielded his eyes from the blinding glare and grudgingly wished for the sunlight to disappear.

The room was that of a normal infirmary den. It contained a few chairs, a small black television hanging by a post from the ceiling, an IV stand with a beeping monitor stationed beside it, and a rather uncomfortable bed that the dazed teen rested in. And then there was the pungent sterile smell and the chilling cold where the thin blankets denied his gowned body heat. Oh yeah, this was definitely a hospital. Wait, why was he here? He was supposed to be getting somebody safely home. Why isn't that person in the hospital instead of him? There were two of them; boys who were cousins, and his classmates. Sora and… Roxas.

The mansion, beautiful blue eyes, a bleeding cheek, lost in the woods, a black creature, beastly nails, burning red eyes replacing cobalt. '_Mine'_. Oh crap.

"Thank God you're finally awake!" a voice shrieked, shattering his thoughts. A blurred body dove across the bed and tackled Axel back down to the cold sheets with a sore bounce. When the hell did somebody come into the room?

Axel grimaced, batting away at his assaulters red stringy hair that was catching into his mouth. "Dad?"

The older man buried his face into his son's collar bone, mumbling inaudible things. The drowsy teen was sure his dad was complaining how he was concerned out of his mind. Axel rolled his eyes and reassured that he was just fine and begged for him to be let go because he couldn't breathe properly. His father snapped upright and apologized. Anyone could recognize that they were related. Their features were strikingly similar. They shared the same sloping nose, the same emerald optics, and the same fiery hair. In fact the man's hair color mirrored Axel's perfectly but it was layered in shorter spikes and the lengthy bottom portion was fastened back, cascading over his left shoulder and nearly reached his lap.

"You had me worried sick, Ax," he breathed a sigh of relief, a hand at his heart. "You've been out for two days straight."

"Two days?!" he yelled in a manner similar to his father's cry earlier. Two whole days. That meant it was Monday and his weekend was over. Not to forget his chance at finding out what was going on. His body shuddered at this, realizing wanting questions only brought up more unreasonable ones. And as much as he wanted answers, he gladly put them aside for the moment and went back to the present situation.

"You had me going there for a while, dammit. I thought you were gonna go vegetative on me–"

"Hold up," he cut him off. "What happened?"

His father shifted to the side of the mattress and crossed a leg to rest his ankle along his opposing knee. "You mean you don't remember anything?"

His heart thumped hard beneath his chest and the tips of his ears grew hot. To lie? Or not to lie? That was the scary question. He bit his bottom lip nervously and answered honestly, "I remember some of it."

"A friend of yours brought you in," he explained, rubbing the tired skin beneath his bloodshot eyes where beside them resided red sideway crescent tattoos_. Like father like son._ He continued on with a sigh. "The boy was nice enough to call me on your cell too; he said you fainted when you were at his place. I got off work and came straight here as soon as I heard."

"You got off work to see me?" he asked, perplexed. He never left work for anything. Why should this situation be any different? He hummed quietly, wondering if it was Roxas who brought him.

"Hey," the older one retorted, "I might be an irresponsible father at times but I'm still your father okay? I care for you too much to sit back and wait for you to come home like nothing's wrong."

Axel cringed at this. After seeing the way Roxas' dad treated him, he was grateful that his dad all too often came home late after work. Although he wasn't around enough, he was glad the man was in happy moods whenever he did see him. The teenager appreciated the fact that he still managed to ask how his days were and even on rare occasions cooked him tasty meals. He admitted that their relationship wasn't a rock solid one but it was one he respected a lot more now. The Flurry's have had their fair share of suffering … too much of it in Axel's opinion. A sinking feeling stirred in his stomach before he gave a pitied gaze towards his brooding father.

"Dad… what would you do if I called you Reno?"

The man scoffed at the question. "I'd smack you silly for calling me by my name."

"Would you hurt me for real?"

His father's smile vanished sourly. "You may be my punk ass son but I'd never intentionally harm you for any reason. Something happened, huh? Why else would you be asking all these ridiculous questions?"

Axel straightened his posture quick and scratched at the back of his head. "No, no. I just had a bad dream that's all." _I wish it was a dream_. He thought solemnly. Wait up. Who brought him again? "Uhh… which friend took me here?"

"I've never heard of him but he says that you guys are best buds so I guess I should know about him. He said his name was rock ass or something or other." He waved his hand indifferently.

A wary grunt escaped from Axel. "You mean Roxas?"

"Yeah, that's it."

Best buds? This was definitely getting stranger and _stranger_. In fact, Axel had finally given up the thought of it all being a bad dream. Now it just felt like a horror movie come to life and at the same time he was excited by it. He insinuated that they were best friends. This irked him. Uh-oh. That only meant he was keeping him on his good side for the wrong reasons. It meant he was to be quiet. Right? Well, if it was for Roxas… he'd lock his lips up and throw away the key. Even if that meant he was keeping secret something dark and dangerous. He briefly looked over the condition his body was in. Well, he was still in one piece so he subtracted the dangerous part from the equation. But still…

"Anyhow," Reno started, slapping a hand on his son's knee. "The doctor said once you were up, he'd run a few tests before letting you go. He said that your body was overexerting itself and you were pretty dehydrated too. So I don't think I want to know the things you were doing at that poor boy's home to get you to collapse like that."

Axel groaned with a hand covering his flush face. If it was anyone who knew how to embarrass the redhead out of his right mind, it was his father. Despite his harsh unfeeling exterior, it was always his dad who saw through the act and sadly this tore him apart. _No one _was supposed to know his weaknesses. Axel glanced at Reno who was chatting away endlessly at topics unheard. It was… soundless. This startled him, afraid he'd gone suddenly deaf but then he relaxed almost instantly. He heard the words, but he just couldn't comprehend them. As if the conversation wafted in one ear and out the other without care. Ah that's why he couldn't comprehend it, because he could care less.

But then there was a care all too intense… Roxas. Axel looked down with a wide grin, whispering the name softly to himself, testing the flow of the word as it smoothly rolled off his tongue. Whatever happened that night in the woods had only increased his curiosity towards the mysterious blond boy, albeit a dangerous desire or not. It didn't matter.

Not too long after, a man in a white coat strode into the room. Just as his nostalgic father had informed him, the doctor asked a few uncaring 'get the job done' questions and performed a brief and sloppy physical. The physician removed the IV needle from his vein and taped a cotton swab against the bleeding hole in his skin. He prescribed him a rather low dosed medication for the discomfort in his aching joints and muscles. He also suggested it was wise not to do any physical activities for the next few days. The man then motioned to his patient's folded clothes on the shelf of the large window and quickly excused himself from the small suite.

The two males hadn't exchanged conversation after the doctor left. It was still and a little unnerving, neither of them wanting to say anything in particular. Reno was the first to break the silence. He said he needed to make a pit stop to the restroom and mentioned to make use of the time and change into his own clothes so when he returned, they could leave. He didn't need to be told twice. Once the cautious father had left the room, Axel sluggishly swung his pale legs over the bed and slowly eased himself off. He slipped a few times making his way to the other side of the room but swiftly regained balance, noting that socks and constantly cleaned tiles didn't mix well. Not to forget being bed ridden for two days hadn't helped his motor skills all too much either.

He met the bright window with a clumsy stumble and used the white ledge of the pane for support. As he reached for the neatly folded clothes to the left of the window he found something peculiar in his peripheral vision. Outside the glass barrier against the steel edge of the building resided lined stigmas, scratches almost. He disregarded this, stepping into his black jeans when he happened to steal a glance at them again. They crisscrossed in no particular pattern, all along the outside rim. He continued to eye them as he lifted off the gown and tossed it to the floor like he did with all his dirty laundry. When he clutched at his shirt he felt an object beneath the fabric. His gaze redirected to the black collared shirt as he reached a hand inside where he pulled out his teeth-abused writing utensil.

"Yo."

Axel's heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He swore loudly and pivoted violently at the voice. It belonged to Reno who watched him askew from the door. "You scared me half to death," he breathed heavily. Damn that was a quick piss.

Reno chortled at his son's words. "I think someone's been watching too many horror flicks late at night again. Come on kid, put your shirt on, we're heading out."

Axel nodded with a sigh and pulled the shirt on. He buttoned them starting from the bottom and made his way up, taking one last look at the humming window. He idly chewed the inside of his cheeks as he left the remaining top three buttons open, flashing milky white skin. He retrieved his shoes from the floor and lazily slipped into them without tying the laces. He snatched the pencil from the ledge along with his cell phone beside it, stuffing them into his back pocket. And as he left the room by his father's side, he wondered if it was just a notion or if the blinds to that window were taken down on purpose.

.

It was strange. To walk past the townspeople, observing their happy faces, completely oblivious to Axel's thoughts. It was surreal too. Feeling the ground beneath his feet, smelling the musky autumn air, and knowing things he knew only existed in an overactive imagination. Was that it? Was it all created by a whim of his overactive imagination? A part of him hoped it was while another part knew better that it wasn't. He lost track of time around the umpteenth stroll he completed through Twilight Town that day.

Reno was a cool enough dad to allow him to take off the next few days of school but however, he just had to take the keys to his truck. That on the other hand wasn't cool. Home became boring the moment his father felt it was okay to go back to work, so he decided that going against the doctor's orders was the perfect remedy to his boredom. Who cares about dismissing physical activities? He needed out. He needed fresh air. He also needed to rationalize. So he found himself in the late evening, distantly reasoning his way through his familiar home town.

_His cheek…_perhaps it was only a trick of the light, after all it was only a second's glance from the bottom of the mansion window. _His nails…_it was dark and there was hardly any light. It could have been an exaggerated shadow. _The black, yellow eyed figure…_the redhead was moments from passing out, he was merely delusional. Right? _Red…flaming red eyes illuminating the darkness_. Axel stopped walking. There was regrettably no explanation for it. No cover up to comfort his fears. Nothing. Zilch. Nada.

"Play hooky much?" a familiar voice resounded.

Axel looked up, finding a companion of his who was smirking with a mischievous delight. What a pleasant surprise, this unexpected meeting should be loads of fun. "Nah," he said truthfully. "I've been out of it for the past few days and my old man wants me to lay off school for a bit until I get better."

"Sure," Riku said sardonically, resting a hand at his slim hip. "So what are you doing in town if you're 'supposed' to be sick?"

"Home was boring me to an early death so I thought I'd make an appearance to my public in some form today. And you? How come you're here? I thought you were too good for society."

"I am," he shot back with a laugh. "I just needed to pick up a few things from the market. And what's with your phone dude? Demyx and I have been trying to contact you all weekend. You seriously missed out on a lot of good action. Don't tell me you finally snagged a hold of that blond kid you've been chasing since the first day school started."

"No I…" He cursed mentally. Axel was never good for coming up with excuses on the spot. What else could he say? Not much. So he cleared his throat and hoped for the best to spew out. "I just wasn't up for partying, you know? So I kept my phone off for the weekend. Wait… do you know if Roxas showed up at school today?"

"You're avoiding my accusation Ax but whatever. Yeah he was there I guess…" he looked uneasy.

"You guess?" Axel said with his eyes narrowing. "He was either there or not. It's not that hard of a question to answer man."

Riku watched him curiously, looking for something kept hidden in the hot tempered teen's features. He found nothing. He never found anything. "Yeah… he was there."

They irrelevantly conversed for a little while longer before Axel insinuated he was keeping him from his precious task of fetching groceries. The athletic one retaliated, mentioning he was only up to no good. They laughed. It was all fine. It was all good. Until the lankier one about faced in the other direction with a peculiar haste. Riku's voice penetrated the widening space between them, calling out in a lost tone.

"He wasn't always like how he is now…"

Axel stopped walking. He didn't turn and didn't respond. He merely listened to his friend's interjection. There was a feeling in his chest that he needed to hear this. So he did.

"Sora that is," Riku continued somberly. "He used to be so happy and carefree. He was a ball of energy to say the least. But… he's changed since the last time I've seen him."

Damn his curiosity. "You knew him before?"

"I used to live in Destiny Islands when I was younger. We both went to elementary together. We were best friends."

"What happened?" he asked another inquiry, his back still facing the silveret.

Riku chuckled. It wasn't a pleasant one either. It was almost desperate and forced. _Pained_. Then three words came from him that threw off Axel completely. "His mom died."

The redhead's upper lip twitched involuntarily. Suddenly, walking away didn't seem like a bad idea now. But he stayed where he was and began to fume, his fists clenched and unclenched in a pissed off physical mantra. Why the hell was Riku bringing this up? Mother's were kept out of all topics whenever Axel was present. The redhead made this crystal clear to Riku and Demyx. And Riku knew this better than anyone. The temper shot up fast but didn't boil over. He kept his cool as best he could, taking in deep relaxing breaths as he continued to listen to the last of Riku's rant.

"I can barely recognize him anymore. He's changed so much that it scares me. I can't help but stress about it," he stuffed a hand into his pocket and he shook his head. "Sorry to bring that up Ax, but I needed to. I needed to get it off my chest you know?"

"Yeah."

It was the only thing he could say that wasn't negative before walking away from Riku, not even thinking about taking a backwards glance. He crossed the line. He didn't deserve the time to be cared for right now. Not after bringing _that_ up. Hmm… didn't Roxas say something about his mother to Cloud that night? Screw it. Like he'd want to remember anything about mother's in general at this point. Axel paced across countless of stores, neighborhoods, and alleys for quite a while before making sure his silver haired friend was long gone, and he was. It was a relief. If he hadn't taken off, he was sure fists would be flying sooner than later. In a burst of anger, he fitfully kicked at the pole of a stop sign.

There was a teasing laughter behind him. He turned, fists at the ready to whoever dared tease him, only finding his raging expression reflecting off a store's presentation window. Okay. That was a little weird. No, that was almost a little ridiculous. But as ridiculous and queer as it was, he started off in no particular direction again, picking up speed when thoughts of the scratches along the ledge of the hospital window came back into his mind. Was _he_ watching him? Axel snorted at the accusation, shaking it off as his jog slowly became a walk again. What a stupid thing to think. But wasn't it all just a stupid scenario? Replaying over and over in his thoughts? He really needed to stop thinking so much.

Tires screamed. A horn blared. A man shouted at the top of his lungs. "Get out of the street kid!"

_What?_

Time was nothing. Before he could make any reaction, two petit hands snaked around his middle and yanked him backwards. He toppled over his feet. This act made his rear meet the pavement with a painful thud. Along the road sped a fast canary yellow sports car, driven by a cursing man who swerved dangerously into the middle lane. The fresh black skid marks on the street were inches from where he was standing before the sidewalk. He was in the street? Damn he _really_ needed to stop musing so much. His over thinking would be the death of him one day if he didn't put a stop to the nonsense soon. But… who?

He scuffled to stand and he searched for a hero to thank. There was none. Only onlookers a good distance away. Okay. Now that was intensely weird on a level he couldn't even begin to understand. People gawked, some asking if he was alright. He ignored them. The last thing he needed was to be sent back to the hospital. The thing he did need though was to think somewhere a little safer. A deep pitch of bells tolled in a dirge after this thought. His eyes darted towards the reverberation, across the street and up high on a cream colored building he knew all too well. The clock tower. Perfect.

It wasn't long until he snuck his way inside the building and traveled up to the tip top of the tower. He cautiously sat himself along the railing of the ledge, propping a leg up while the other dangled over the side. He was comfortable here, very comfortable. If anything it was his home away from home. When he was younger – more naïve – and whenever his parents fought and the swearing and heartbreak was too much for him, he'd come here. The best thing about it was that no one else bothered to venture to the tower. Sure that Hayner kid and his two brat buddies tried to sneak in one time but he made sure as hell that they didn't try a second time.

It was _his_ place. His and his alone. Sometimes he'd wish to share it with someone else. Another friend perhaps but somehow he felt good up here by himself. The cool gentle breeze nipping his skin, the calm and quiet that remained until the bells decided to harmonize, all in all it was extremely fulfilling. Like the inanimate things around him was enough company for him. It was like that everywhere though.

Then, the cool breeze became a dull foreboding stillness. The calm and quiet grew eerie and heavy upon his form. His entire body clenched inwardly. Something wasn't right. Something wasn't natural.

"If you're not careful, you could slip and fall you know." A voice suggested.

Axel felt the strongest urge to see the person who made the comment but a feeling in his gut told him that he'd find nothing, so he remained as is. "I know," he responded to the skies. "But I think I'd be in safe hands if anything happened."

"Ah. So you've caught on to me? You're a smart cookie Axel."

The redhead tsked. "It doesn't take brains to tell when someone's stalking you. An idiot would be able recognize that."

"Aw that's not a very nice thing to say," the voice replied sadly. "Shouldn't you be thankful I saved your distracted ass from that speeding car? Now what kind of stalker takes action on their target of obsession?"

"The kind that want them dead," Axel hissed. "Don't be a coward. Why don't you just show yourself already Roxas?"

There was no response to this demand. It was silent. Dead silent. It wasn't a calm quiet either. Just… a thick silence. Then suddenly a figure appeared at the left corner of Axel's eyes. It was now he decided to look. Lowe and behold, the blond mysterious boy he felt so utterly intrigued by stood stoically beside him. The wind softly picked up again, tousling his golden spiked locks about. He stared emptily with cerulean irises out upon the little shapes of the town and the towns beyond that. Axel's breath hitched at this.

He revealed himself alright, beautifully too. The senior regained his composure and peered into the same direction Roxas was looking. He felt he needed to say something smart, something witty and funny even, but the odd chill to his left kept him from doing anything. He was shell shocked maybe. Yeah… stunned. They stayed like this, saying nothing but accepting each other's presence until the orange rays from the sun grew pink and red, just beginning to set.

At this, Axel finally worked up the nerve to speak. With difficulty, he swallowed a lump in his throat and let the question leak from his lips.

"What are you?"

The response came faster than he thought it would.

"Demon." Roxas crouched down. "Vampire." He sat close to the other teen. "Nosferatu." He didn't make eye contact once. "Call me what you please. I am not among the living or the dead. I simply exist."

Axel blinked. Nearly paralyzed at the answer. He stared at the boy in complete disbelief yet simultaneously frightened he was telling the truth. It strangely explained it all.

"Am I dreaming?" He thought aloud.

"Not to my knowledge."

Axel's eyes became fixated on the undead boy's leather gloves. He reached out with a boldness he didn't know he had and placed his strong hand atop the smaller one, gripping gently at the material and began to tug it off. Roxas lifted his hand higher, at an angle where it was easier to remove. Axel flinched at this movement but realized it was an act where no harm would come to him so he continued to ease off the glove. When it was completely removed, he gasped, letting the item drop from his fingers and down to the ground far below as he found his bare hands for a second time.

He half hoped they would be normal. The other half was impressed. He secretly wished they were just sensitive hands, covered up to keep from the cold and heat like he said they were but instead his memory was merely refreshed. The nails were just as thick and sharp as he remembered. Pointed razors fitted onto fragile little hands. This was no dream.

"Are you really all of those things?" Axel asked hesitantly, carefully stroking the fine tips of the blond's icy cold fingers with fascination.

"You could say I'm all those things and more. I've been called every name in the book so much that I guess I _am_ all of it." He responded casually.

The redhead froze, then let go of Roxas' hand. Things were making a little more sense now. "You said you were anemic. A vampire… does that mean you… suck blood? You know… the whole nine yards?"

The smaller one's face was blank for a few seconds before he laughed heartily at this. This made Axel ecstatic, although he was probably the butt of the joke, he didn't care. Roxas was laughing. Cold, distant, strange Roxas was laughing. And he was the cause of it. This was too good to be true. The blond attempted to stifle his giggles with no avail as he pulled off the other glove and carelessly tossed it over the ledge too, swinging his legs back and forth over the tower. He relaxed and appeared content but this didn't last very long. The laugh disappeared.

"You watch too many scary movies."

"So I've been told," Axel smirked.

"Well," Roxas said, watching the last of the sun dip behind the horizon. "If I tell you anymore about me… I'm afraid we're gonna have to come to terms with a thing or two."

"That I don't mind." Really, he didn't mind. It was relief to his ears.

As the sky grew darker, the after glow of the sun beginning to fade off into nothing, Roxas faced Axel with nothing else but seriousness in his expression. "You cannot speak a word about me and my father to _anyone_. Do you realize the danger you would put yourself in if you do say anything? Cloud would hunt you down in a heartbeat if he knew… I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

The tips of Axel's thin brows lifted upwards sympathetically. "Words might not be enough but I'm telling you the truth when I say that I'd take your secrets to the grave. It was my intention from the start to keep this to myself. I promise you I won't breathe a word if that's what you wish."

"That's a mouthful of a promise, Axel. But you know too much as it is." He lowered his head in shame, "I could either explain to you the rest, or suffer the consequences and put us both in grave danger. I'd rather risk trusting you than risk your safety."

"Consequences?" The taller one started but Roxas gently lifted his index finger, flashing a ravenous nail and this action silenced him immediately.

"I'm a lot more than you assume me to be. I'm more than just a creature of the night. I'm a _monster_. I'm a fiend capable of destructive things that I wish you would never know…"

"You are not a monster." Axel latched onto both of the melancholy boy's clawed hands. "I'm still here aren't I? I may not know everything about you but I do know one thing. People are capable of horrible things and wonderful things all the same. It's the decision we make to act on one or the other that makes us who we are. Nobody is a monster. Not me. Not _you_. I won't accept that."

The glistening blue in Roxas' irises churned around and around until the sapphire became an intimidating vermilion, tears spilling from them and trickling down his cheeks. Axel suppressed a whimper and restrained himself from overreacting to the change of eye color. This was proof. This was _undeniable_ proof that this wasn't his overactive imagination. It was real. It frightened him a little but he didn't show it, he never showed it. But Roxas on the other hand knew better. From the start he knew better.

"I know you're afraid. You can't hide things like that from me," he sniffled, taking away a hand from the Axel's to wipe off his tears. "Empathy sky rockets in me, I can almost taste your fear it's so strong."

Nerves prickled. No. No giving in. Axel tightened his grip around the soft cold flesh of the boy's hand, careful not to brush against his nails. "Your eyes… you wore those contacts because they turn red huh?"

Roxas gasped, tightly squeezing his eyes shut. "They're red again?!"

"You can't tell they are?"

He bit his bottom lip and refused to open his eyes welled with tears. "No. I can't."

Well, that explains a thing or two. There were just so many questions bubbling within Axel he could combust from mere overexcitement but he didn't. He remained calm and figured the answer to all his questions would come eventually. Eventually…

"They change for a variety of different reasons. They can be triggered by emotions, smells, touch, and even thoughts. I can change them at will as well but once they're like this, I don't have enough will power to reverse it. They fade out on their own accord–"

"I think they're gorgeous." He heard him say.

Eyes opened, revealing confused ruby orbs. He couldn't understand. Gorgeous? Was he just saying this? Playing a rude trick? He couldn't tell even with his acute senses. Even if it was the truth, he ignored the remark entirely. He had to. Otherwise… things would get more complicated than they already were. Roxas increased his poise until he was sure he made no signs of reaction to the compliment and swiftly changed the topic.

"I'm a little hungry to tell you the truth." The undead blond lifted his hood up and over his head. "Would you like to talk this over dinner?"

Axel paled.

"…_Do_ you drink blood?"

Roxas rolled his inhuman eyes with a faint smirk displayed at his sleek pink lips. "Ask me that again and I'll gnaw at your throat until the sun comes up."

The shorter one laughed and Axel awkwardly joined him, hoping to the stars above that he was just teasing. But then again… it's not like he could complain about that threat, if it was even a threat at all. And if anything, an explanation over dinner didn't sound too bad now. In fact he was very satisfied with himself, considering it in some fashion… a date.


	5. Good Enough?

**I do not own KH or it's characters.**

**Mezzanine**

_**Chapter Five: Good Enough?**_

Riku wasn't one for keeping secrets, or even lying for that matter. But in this particular case, he put his pride aside and did just these things. He kept a secret from and lied to Axel all in one conversation that day. There was no round about trip to the market for groceries that evening. No. The mercury haired teenager was on a mission to say the least. The truth had somewhat been told to his hot tempered friend when they parted ways. But it was still a secret nonetheless. _Sora_ was that secret.

Like how Axel was madly intrigued by Roxas, Riku found himself painfully losing his cool composure over the continuous encounters of his past best friend. Yet, Sora remained in the past. The fuzzy painted memory of him danced through his skull, it was a haunting memory at that. He recalled the brunet as an outgoing and jubilant child that kept Riku on his toes. He was always a challenge. He was always a spirit lifter. He was the best friend he ever had. Now, he was all but a vague ghost of a dream-like memory. Gone.

He ached for his laughter and longed for his company again. And the one thing he missed the most was his smile. It stabbed him, scorched him, and slashed him because it wasn't there anymore. It cleanly disemboweled his long but never forgotten picture of the bright and flawless smile that made him so jealous, even to this day. He was so happy then. How could death change so much in a person? Riku wouldn't stand for this. Not for one instant.

There was doubt though, extreme doubt. He stood for what seemed like hours on Sora's front porch, his finger jittering, pointing at the door bell. His arm was rigid and sore but he couldn't help but second guess himself. After all, who the hell waits outside somebody's house for hours on end, deciding whether or not to enter? He was positive that nobody he knew would even consider this. But he didn't care anymore. He had a quest to fulfill and nothing was going to stand in the way of this. Some boundaries just had to be crossed at appropriate times.

Suddenly, the door cracked ajar. A voice startled his contemplative state, "Riku?"

His glossy aquamarine eyes strolled over to whoever had called him. He sighed at the sight before him. In the open space of the door was Sora, hair disheveled, eyelids heavy, and he was adorned in blue pajamas two sizes too large for him. Riku grinned weakly and said nothing. Sora stepped outside and quietly shut the door behind him.

"Riku?" he asked again with a yawn. "What are you doing here? It's late."

"It's only ten o'clock goody two shoes, relax," he took a deep breath to relax himself too. "I think we should talk."

Sora's sleepy baby blues snapped open, he was quite awake now. He shook his head violently and turned around fast to return to the comfort of his home. Before his hand met the brassy knob, Riku's pale one snatched it and he spun him back around, pinning him against his own front door. Sora reared his face away from the taller one. Why was he so damn vertically challenged with this guy?

"What happened to you?" Riku asked curtly.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Riku. Please don't hurt me, _please_ don't. Just leave me alone." Sora whimpered like a puppy just weaned from its mother. Riku recoiled back at this and felt disgustingly guilty.

"I'm sorry. I'm not gonna hurt you. I just… I have a right to know."

Sora looked at him now. He swallowed back his fear and watched the lost look in Riku's heavy demeanor. "You changed too Riku. I'm not the only one."

The athletic one scoffed. "_I've_ changed? Sora, you haven't taken the time to even accept my existence anymore. How can you possibly know that? Why can't it just go back to the way it was before? Why can't we just… be?"

Riku was suppressing tears now. His face grew hot and he began to hiccup back sobs. Why did Sora have to be so cold now? What sadistic devil would want to switch places with him in order to torture him so endlessly? Where did his Sora go? He just wanted him back. He had wanted him back like he never thought he would. And it was because he _wanted_ him.

"Riku," the brunet consoled, now slinking his arms around his neck and burying his face into his best friend's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

Riku's legs gave out under him. Sora's legs did the same. They plummeted to the floor and held each other close. Sora was relieved, holding his friend gently and Riku was torn, holding a memory in the flesh. He let the tears finally fall. The boy in blue pajamas was utterly taken back by this. In all the years he's known him, he never cried and he never admitted defeat. And here he was in his arms, doing both. Things _do_ change.

"I've missed you so much," Sora breathed into his shoulder.

Riku pulled away from their embrace and looked at his best friend dead in the eye. Sora's heart felt a sharp pain when he saw his wounded multicolored irises, and below them his cheeks were stained from tears. It was a sight he wished he'd never see. His hero and beloved friend was brittle and weak. It killed him inside.

"Then why are you doing this to me? Why are you doing this to yourself?" Riku pleaded. "I just want to see you smile again."

"That's all?" Sora giggled softly, earning Riku to snap upwards at the sound that was music to his ears.

There it was. The magical toothy smile that mended all the bad things. That beautiful smile that made the butterflies he thought he never had, flutter blissfully inside his belly. He nodded and never once did his eyes dare to leave his mouth. That wonderful mouth. "Sora… I feel like I'm falling."

Sora gasped and the smile faltered. It vanished like a phantom in the night. He was only a memory again. Riku cursed himself over and over inside his head for being so brash with his feelings. He's never felt this rush of wonderful feelings before with anybody else. Naturally he had to tell him. Right?

"I can't do this Riku. I can't catch you."

Riku swore his heart stopped beating. "Forgive me," a tear fell again. "I wasn't thinking. I thought we could– I just– You probably think I'm so disgusting for thinking of you like this."

"I don't think that." Sora looked down, ashamed. "I should be the one asking for forgiveness because I feel the same actually… and its not that I won't catch you from falling, I just… _can't_."

_What_? Riku wiped away all his tears and collected himself as best as he could. "If you feel the same, then give me one good reason why you won't give us a try?"

Sora looked up, giving him a weak smile to break the ice and said, "Roxas."

.

"You've got a pretty nice place," Roxas commented as the very eager and very nervous Axel politely gave the undead blond a tour of his small apartment suite.

It wasn't much, really. It wasn't as impressive as Roxas' historical mansion was. Neither was it as clean or tidy. A few cluttered coffee tables here, a few old couches there –needless to say– it was sort of a mess. But it was what Axel called home and that was just his cup of tea. Roxas didn't seem too bothered by the unclean dishes or the unwashed laundry. In fact, he looked more at ease in the new environment. The red eyed boy pulled out a seat at the kitchen table and slumped into it with a sigh of satisfaction. Axel knew that look like the back of his hand. It was the look of relief after a long day away from home. This appeased him.

"So, do you feel like having leftovers? I've got pizza, meatloaf, and some sushi stowed away. I don't know what you prefer and I'm not much of a chef. Or we could do take out if you'd like." Axel awkwardly suggested as he opened his fridge to find leftovers galore.

Blondie shifted an opposing chair and crossed his slender legs along it. "Sushi sounds great."

"Raw fish it is."

He retrieved two Japanese styled doggy bags from the bottom shelf and put them on the table where Roxas was more than happy to dig in. The redhead tried not to watch him pick at the food with the chopsticks tousled in claws but he did anyway, suddenly not feeling very hungry anymore. If he was comfortable enough to come home with him and eat dinner; that meant this was a good start.

Wait, a vampire munching on sushi? This was just unheard of… well at least to Axel. He took a chair and swiveled it around to straddle it. His chin rested on his knuckles and his fingers rested on the back of the chair. They drummed against the wood with curiosity. This should be fun, real fun.

"You can eat food?" he asked. Yeah, that totally wasn't a rude question. No not at all. Only one Axel would ask.

"I can but I don't need to. Not when I've got these." Roxas set down the chopsticks and pulled out his prescription bottle from his jacket's pocket and rattled them about. "I wouldn't be able to live without these. But that doesn't mean I can't deny myself the simple pleasures that food brings me."

"So let me get this straight," Axel now crossed his arms. "You're a vampire, right?"

"Yeah," Roxas muttered through bits of fish and rice.

"If you're stocking up on sushi and iron pills then the whole blood sucking thing is just a myth then. Right?"

"Not quite."

Uh-oh spaghettios. A warning alarm screamed inside Axel's head. It told him to run again. Run while he still has the chance. _Run_, it chanted repetitively. But he ignored it. He often ignored signs like these. Hell, he didn't see it as a sign let alone any kind of warning. Roxas is harmless. He's just a red eyed, razor for nails, pill popping vampire that means no harm to him.

"Then _please_, do tell."

Roxas blinked. He looked down at his nigirizushi, his half eaten makizushi rolls, and the chilled wasabi sitting undisturbed between them. They didn't look like simple pleasures anymore. They were beginning to appall him in fact. So he nudged it forwards to gesture he was finished. He kept staring at them though, concentrating hard. It was better than meeting Axel's eager and gentle gaze while he answered.

"I do need blood but," he said with a twinge of hurt. "Cloud prohibits me to feed that way anymore, so when this medication first came into existence, he put me on them. It's a substitute for taking blood. You see whenever I do drink it, my primal instincts reach its peak. I become feral and uncontrollable. I really shouldn't mind these nasty things over the real deal though. I've hurt a lot of innocent people because of that crave. I'm better off now to tell the truth."

"Wait," Axel's shaky eyes were narrowing. "You've been taking those pills for as long as they've been around? Those puppies aren't old but they aren't new either. Is this… some kind of joke? You–"

"You want to know my real age? Don't you?" the boy finished.

The taller one nodded hesitantly. "How old _are_ you Roxas?"

His pink tongue darted out and moistened his dry lips before saying, "I'll be hitting my second century in a few days."

_Whoa_…

And here Axel was worrying about being a year older than him when the _younger_ one was really going to be two hundred years old. No… that couldn't be. _He_ couldn't be. Could he? The redhead eyed the exquisite boy carefully. He could be mistaken for someone in junior high at the least. Axel couldn't possibly think of him as an elder. Roxas was just the cute strange kid at school that acted like he knew everything. Don't all kids do that? Kid… he's still a kid.

"You haven't aged," he pointed out.

Roxas took a glance over his shoulder and around the room, his eyes fixated on a window nervously. He stared it down along with the ventilation screens. Paranoia swamped his youthful face. He managed to shrug it off and sat a little closer to the thin teenager, bringing his voice to a low tone, almost a whisper.

"I haven't aged because I cannot age. I mean, after all… I _am_ immortal."

Axel coughed. More like choked. He covered his mouth, saying nothing, and looked away. _Immortal_. Damn, this was like his history lessons were springing to life. Like Xigbar's ridiculous lore theory was all true. Was it true? Could it be more than just a tall tale? It had to be.

Roxas shifted in his seat a little and continued on. "The real reason why Cloud is the way he is with me, is because of my birth."

"But aren't vampires bitten to be made?"

He chuckled. "No. If vampires were truly made by a mere bite, there would be a helluva lot more of us around. As far as I'm concerned, an immortal can be created two ways and two ways alone. The first is if someone is blooded. Once in a blue moon a human is able to transfer into our kind this way. It is the process of exchanging blood from an immortal to a mortal's. The two bloods mix and mesh until they are both the same. Being blooded is a risky and fatal attempt at immortality. The only guaruntee is death."

"What about blood transfusions?" Axel suggested thoughtfully.

Roxas shook his head. "The two bloods must be transferred out of raw purity. By the immortal's claws alone can they share their blood from each others open hearts. It's rare for a successful procreation to happpen and little have succeeded at blooding a human because of the frailty of your kind. That is why it's so dangerous. But… an immortal can be made another way. By birth. As I was. It is forbidden though."

Axel perked up at his words. "Why?"

"Two vampires cannot create life because we don't possess life to begin with. However, a human and inhuman _can_. It is against our way because an undead child's growth spurt stops after puberty starts. That's why I look the way I look. A man in a teenage body. Forever." His brows knit and the crimson in his eyes seemed to glow brighter with fury.

"I'm sorry, Roxas."

"Don't be. It isn't your place. It was Cloud's," he scoffed. "He was banished from his brethren, exiled from all contact with other clans because of his love for a mortal woman and the birth of a nuisance halfbreed."

Axel glared at the blond with his famous and intense anger beginning to show. "You're not a nuisance. How can you think of yourself like that?"

"Very easily." Roxas smiled sadly.

The human couldn't understand this. He couldn't except how Roxas –such a beautiful person– could honestly see himself the way he does. It was completely belittling and this upset him to no end. He was no longer afraid of the otherworldly color in his eyes, or the animalistic hands he bore. The only thing he saw now, was the little crumbling hope that the blond had left in him. Axel couldn't take it much longer. He wanted to fix him. To mend him. To…

"Sora isn't," Roxas added, throwing off his thoughts. He sent him an odd expression before the immortal continued again. "Sora isn't an immortal if that's what you were going to ask. He is a cousin of mine though. A really, really, really, distant cousin. From… my mom's side."

Axel stayed quiet. Silent as the grave. All but the ugly temper screamed inside. No. He softly shut his eyes and his teeth clamped down hard on his tongue to keep him from saying anything. _He doesn't know, he can't know, I won't let him know_, he thought bitterly as he prayed Roxas stayed oblivious. He opened his eyes and discovered the blond looking worried. That's right, he has acute empathy. Now would be a perfect time to change the subject. So he did.

"Have you always known Sora?" Axel seethed through gritted teeth.

Roxas stared, confused. Something was hidden and he knew it but he decided against prying. Roxas knew that prying did no good under any circumstance.

He cleared his throat and answered, "For most of his life, yes. I was all Cloud had left when he was banished from his coven. He only had me because my mother died giving birth to me."

He paused when Axel's eyes closed again. He assured himself to ignore it and go on with what he was saying. "Cloud kept track of her family tree for as long as I can remember. And he never approached any of her relatives until recently. Sora's mother was one of the last relatives to my mother, but she passed also. Now Sora is the only one left with my mother's blood running through his veins. That's why Cloud and I are keeping contact with him."

Axel pinched the bridge of his nose hard and shook his head. "So you just walked up to him one fateful day and told him who you guys were?"

"Kind of," he admitted. "Sora was only ten when Cloud introduced us to his father, Zack Fair. Believe it or not, the man knew who Cloud and I were."

"How?"

"History, Axel. Folklores, urban legends, family stories that were passed down from Sora's generation. Zack was supportive of it all and we've been close with them ever since."

"Apparently there's a lot more truth in myths than I thought," the redhead thought aloud, taking everything in as much as he could. "But what about the other things? Like garlic and crosses and coffins, that sort. Sunlight is pretty self explanitory."

"Weakness to garlic and crucifixes are complete crap just like burning in the daylight. But coffins on the other hand," he grinned almost maliciously, a glint of his sharp canines were exposed. "I highly favor them."

Axel felt sick all of a sudden.

"I don't sleep in them if that's what you're thinking but they do come in handy whenever I feel under the weather or if I'm lacking blood in my system. A quick cat nap in my black beauty restores all my energy back to normal and if anything, makes me stronger."

Axel gaped. "So that day when I took you home, you just slept in a coffin? And just like that," he snapped his fingers. "You're as good as new?"

Roxas nodded.

"You're incredible," he said, a little out of breath and impressed beyond belief.

The mythical being frowned. He knew no meaning to the word compliment although he was well aware of its purpose. He never received compliments. Not since _they_ died. He looked to Axel, who was satisfied with the answers. He smiled faintly at this. At least he had a new friend he could speak to now. One he could be open with again. He only strayed away from mortals for friends because he would always have to lie. He'd always wear a mask. A human mask, concealing the monster that he really was. He hated that. He hated to pretend to be something he wasn't. It wasn't Halloween. He wasn't the epitome of a Halloween costume. He was just Roxas.

"Roxas?"

The deep voice that called his name sent shivers down his spine. The scarlet gave way. Electric blue eyes came back, unknown to the graceful boy. Axel gulped. He was a little more attentive now. Like he was under a spell. Black magic couldn't do him justice for the way he felt. He was completely mesmerized. Axel shook off the wonderful feeling and returned to his original task.

"Roxas," he said again. "That night in the forest. There was something with us. That black thing that looked like it wanted to eat my face. What was it?"

He pulled his feet onto his chair and hugged his legs, much like the fashion Axel had done when he found him spent and scared half to death beneath the hedge. "Like me, they go by many names. Ghouls, zombies, imps. Hell, Sora calls them heartless. I think that suits them best."

"Heartless." Axel repeated beneath his breath.

"They are what's left of the poor souls who were attempted to be blooded," he explained somberly. "When an immortal fails to blood a human properly, they die and their bodies become dormant shells. Our blood was either too much or not enough, it poisons their hearts and it pumps out an unnatural blood instead. Unfortunately, they become what you saw that night. They are nothing like their past selves and they only share one thing with us… the thirst."

"It was going to drink from me," he deadpanned.

"Yes."

"Roxas?"

"Yes?"

Axel nibbled on his bottom lip. He had to ask. He simply had to know. It was on his mind since it was confirmed that he was immortal. The questions that bewildered him the most. The questions that involved so much of his town. So much of his past. He _needed_ to know. Axel looked at Roxas and asked.

"Did you know Terra, Aqua, and Ventus? And is it true? Does Ventus really still exist?"

With that, Roxas stood and headed for the door. The taller male followed his trail fast and just as the undead blond -in spite and woe- excused himself and went to shut the door. Axel caught the knob and forced resistance on it from being closed. They didn't say anything. Their eyes merely connected. The beautiful blue azure became darker and darker, now scarlet again. With a magnificant strength, Roxas easily jerked the other side of the door, causing the knob to slip from Axel's grasp that just wasn't strong enough.

As the door began to shut again, Roxas gave the last words of the night between them.

"I _am_ Ventus."

.

**A/N: I should really consider switching the genre from fantasy to suspense huh? Hmm… nah. ****But I am highly considering upping the rating from T to M though. For upcoming violence and language. Time will tell. And I _promise _there will be AkuRoku. With that aside… Thank you so much for all who reviewed, faved, author alerted, and update alerted this story. It means a lot and it inspires me to write. Thank you!**


	6. Mother is God

**A/N: ****Holy **_**crap**_** this chapter's long –satisfied sigh– ****FAIR WARNING****, there will be ****foul mouths**** and ****gore**** from here on out. Pleasant readings!**

**P.S. I give virtual cookies to those who recognize the chapter title -which is not of my claimageness-**

**.**

**I do not own KH or it's characters.**

**Mezzanine**

_**Chapter Six:**__** Mother is God in the Eyes of a Child**_

Adjusting was an extremely familiar word to Axel. It had a fluid meaning that he knew almost too well. Adjusting, the capability of adapting to a change of almost any kind. Axel smirked at this. He was of lizard discent, he thought. A stealthy, sly, secretive, urban chameleon. He hid his emotions irrevicably. He whipped out acts like a magician pulled rabbits out of a hat. And he simply _adjusted_ to what he felt like best whenever he pleased. He was so good at it, he felt it became his profession in some sort.

A chameleon. An illusionist. An impervious wall. A master of disguise. However… not as of late. His skin failed to replicate his surroundings. His sleeves refused to let him pull out tricks and treats. His act was failing. It was crumbling. Faltering. Until finally, it was demolished altogether. And the snide immortal gladly served up the demolition order on an exquisite silver platter.

It had been a few months since their encounter with each other at Axel's place. Since then, they grew close. _Best buds_, one could say. They hung around on weekends, talked up storms between passing periods, and even exchanged company during lunch. As together as they became, one thing was set aside. One thing that Roxas simply would not allow. That was his name and along with it, his past. As much as it ate up the skinless chameleon's curiosity, he respected his wishes and let it slide to his displeasure.

Axel could tell that Riku and Demyx had a whole lot to say about his new friend but they said nothing, they kept to themselves. He liked it that way. Nothing disturbed their freindship and no one pried at them for answers. But nothing was perfect. A question would pop up here and there. Along the lines of: "Since when did Roxas become the catch of the year?" or "Why didn't you come to the party last weekend?" or even "Something's not right about Roxas. Can't you see it?"

He could see it. He could feel it. He could almost taste it too. The beautiful vampire was in his hands now. He was careful but he was also eager. He wanted him all to himself, and he was sure it was a mutual feeling with Roxas. Push came to shove, and Riku and Demyx became last weeks trend. It wasn't nice. But Axel didn't care. Roxas was his world now.

"Are you even listening to us, _big red_?"

Axel's expression was rock solid. Empty and unable to decipher. He shrugged off his friend's interjection and fiddled with his favored mercilessly cracked and dented pencil between his long agile fingers. He wasn't paying attention to his two friends, who insisted on accompanying his eager arrival of the morning bell. After all, how could he? He was overloading with inept information that nearly fried his synapses. His mind kept ticking and ticking, over and over. _Ventus Ventus Ventus_. He needed to know. He needed to know.

"Something happened, huh?" the dazed one heard Riku say.

This question however, broke him free from the restraining tick. Axel's lips parted and he began to reply but his vocal chords denied him sound. He closed them and simply nodded a yes. Of course something happened. Roxas is the damn savior of his past time. Demyx painfully watched as his mute friend whirled his pencil around and around like it was all that mattered in the world. He teased a hand through his heavily hairsprayed fohawk mullet and restrained himself from speaking, even though he wanted to badly.

"We're not gonna push you to say anything," Riku said calmly. "But we're here when you need to vent, okay?"

Vent. _Ventus_. Axel shook his head no this time. This made his friends frown and the ticking came back with a rippling punch. He felt no need to respond to either of them.

"Suit yourself," the silveret coldly retorted, departing from their uncomfortable circle of 'friends' and disappeared into a throng of students in their high school.

"Riku don't be an ass!" Demyx shouted and nervously redirected his gaze to Axel when the other was out of sight. _What's gotten into them_? He thought with worry.

The dishwater blond wasn't sure of what to do. Whenever Axel was in his fits or just not himself, he usually let Riku do the talking to calm him down. Demyx was just the kind of person that tended to say the wrong things at the wrong time. He was well aware of this though. So he stood where he was with his lips sealed, annoyed that Riku had wandered off to leave him alone with the brooding boy. Axels should seriously come equipt with manuscripts. Unfortunatley to Demyx, the world just didn't work that way.

The first morning bell rang to Demyx's relief. It seemed the world granted him some goodness still.

"Come on Ax. Let's go to class."

.

Axel was surprised to see the undead boy already in his seat. He smiled and trudged his way into the class and down an isle to his own desk. He scanned the familiar faces of his classmates, _oblivious_. They were completely oblivious that such a celestial creature of immortality graced their precense. But _he_ knew and that's all that mattered. He just couldn't entirely understand why he was so taken back by it all. Roxas made a mess of him. Scattered every fiber of his being to the wind. Roxas unregrettably shook his world.

"Good morning." The blond greeted as Axel eased himself into his chair.

The redhead looked at the vampire, noting that his eyes were the dull honey brown again. "Morning," he replied softly. This was his first word spoken today.

Something was different. The human began comprehending the fact that Roxas was acting friendly for once. The change was alien to Axel only months prior but he wasn't complaining about it. It was a nice change. Roxas had a change of heart. Didn't that happen often? He glanced once more across the room and found something interesting this time around. There was only one empty seat and it was in the middle of the classroom. Sora didn't show up today. In fact, he hasn't been showing his mug around for the past few weeks. He found that peculiar.

"He wasn't feeling well," Roxas reassured, startling the student at his side. The blond laughed. "Don't tell me you've forgotten everything I've told you?"

"No," Axel half panted. "You just keep amazing me, that's all."

Was Roxas blushing? Axel could have swore he was, but he couldn't confirm it because the vampire turned the other way. The senior –school term speaking– smirked brightly. This only meant that Roxas was hiding rosy cheeks and a flush face. Oh yeah, Axel still had it. He paused in thought. He felt the heat of eyes glaring dangerously at him. His satisfied smile left the second his gaze met with Demyx's and he looked _ticked_. Uh-oh.

Demyx whirled around –nose up– in his cushioned black computor chair and went back to work aside Xigbar who had just begun his lesson for the day. Axel slunked into his chair with faint guilt. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't up for talking to Demyx and Riku earlier. It wasn't his fault either for feeling better now that Roxas was there with him. Why was it okay for the teacher's aid to leer at him so hatefully? Answer: it _wasn't_ okay. He should be happy that he was talking now. _Shouldn't_ he be happy for him?

For the remaining time the class had, Axel stayed quiet and this threw off the nosferatu completely. He was so used to being teased and assualted by his words. Now that it didn't happen, he second guessed himself for revealing who he was. But Roxas didn't question him and he didn't add anything after. For once, they didn't speak and they did the work required to pass for the day. The rhythm to their system broke. Change was consuming them and uknown to the both of them, change was devouring everything around them as well.

.

"Where were you at lunch, Axel? We barely see you around anymore." Demyx shot down the redhead, who seemed to be in a hurry towards his truck, mere moments after the school day ended.

He froze at the question and sighed with jade eyes rolling. The truth was, he had spent his lunch away from the two pushy boys and instead with Roxas. It was a little harsh on his part but he knew it would only be dismal and awkward if he had invited the immortal to share the noon meal with his two curious friends again. He knew they were growing tired of his cold shoulder but he couldn't tell them about Roxas and he didn't want to lie to them anymore. So he began to avoid them at all costs. To his misfortune, he couldn't make the great escape he had invisioned all day.

"Sorry," Axel apologized, turning around. "A lot of things have been going on and I–"

He trailed off as the beautiful blond vampire approached from behind Demyx who had his hands on his hips with agitation. Roxas sent him a rather suggestive leer as he swaggered past his questioning friend, hooking his arm with Axel's when he met his side. The redhead's heart did somersaults and the mulleted boy before them cocked his head in curiosity at the sight. It explained plenty of things, but he was still upset with Axel no less.

"I hope you don't mind if I steal him from you." Roxas chimed playfully.

"_I do_," another voice boldly stated.

_Huh_?

A blur of black clothes, pale skin, and mercury hair darted between the three boys. Two angry hands shoved at Roxas' chest, unlinking his arm from Axel's and sent him stumbling backwards in surprise. This can't be good.

"You think you're so special huh? Coming here, acting like you can take anything that you want at a whim?" Riku snarled, continuing to stride at the confused blond. Axel grimaced. This definitely wasn't good. It promised no good outcome either.

"Do you think you're obligated to Sora?" he aggresively shoved at his chest again. "Do you honestly think you can torture him like this? Just because you won't consider dating doesn't mean that you should put him to shame and make him do the same damn thing. How can you just–"

Axel slipped between the two and he easily towered over Riku, giving him a slight advantage. The situation confused him endlessly but he stood up for his new unearthly companion anyway, and stood his ground against his familiar human companion.

"Calm down, Riku."

"_No_," Riku spat, now pinpointing his anger to him. "I won't calm down. Isn't it frustrating when someone else is pissed off and you can't do anything about it?"

"Calm down." Axel repeated, this time he gladly expressed the irritance in his voice.

"Or what? The freak will kick my ass like he did to you? Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots."

The air suddenly went ice cold and Axel knew this eerie feeling all too well now. He glanced over his shoulder to take a look at the immortal. Roxas was glaring, obviously offended. His dark brown contacts looked a little brighter than usual and his boyish hands were clenched, his knuckles churned a hot white. Axel shook his head in objection and turned to do the same to Riku but the look on the pale boy's face told him that he didn't need to.

Riku's angry front had dissapated. His eyes were oggling past Axel and he backed up a bit. This amused the hot head. He knew that Roxas could be seriously intimidating. But this? This was just too priceless to take in all at once.

"Wherever you're taking him, Roxas, I don't care. Just do it _now_."

Axel's brows drew together and he searched from Riku's shaky gaze to Demyx's horrified expression. This couldn't have been Roxas' doing. _Couldn't_ have been. The lanky one about faced and found Blondie looking just as equally confused as he was. Whatever stirred up his good buddies, it was something else aside from the vampire. Then, green eyes slipped past Roxas and focused on three approaching people that suddenly made his innards scorch to the core. The ring leader in the middle chuckled loudly, catching Roxas' attention too. Axel's teeth ground together as the guy did this.

"What the hell are you doing here, Seifer?" Axel spat.

The one who went by Seifer grunted, shaking his beanie adorned head as the petit girl and overly built guy to his sides laughed. Seifer stepped a little closer to the Twilight boys and tsked with disapproval. "That's no way to greet your good old school rivals. Is it? Come now, we came all this way from Hollow Bastion just in hopes to cross your path. Take it as a compliment. So tell me, how have my three favorite faggots been since I've transferred? I see you've recruited a new member to join your gay gang."

"Leave him out of this." Axel deffensively stood in front of Roxas who was a little taken back at the anger beginning to overflow before him. "You came here looking for trouble. _I'm_ the one who's more than willing to give that to you."

"What's wrong, queer?" the girl with lavender hair giggled sourly, adding, "Can't take it when we bash your boy?"

The burly guy interjected too. "Come on hot head. I've heard better comebacks than that man, you know?"

Roxas noticed Riku and Demyx came to back up Axel too. They presented their best war faces but he sensed that fear was too overpowering for either of them to lash out. He frowned at that. However, the utter heart quaking adrenaline that fumed off Axel was enough to fuel Roxas too. He became increasingly agitated at the fact that he was being defended for. He could take care of himself. He wasn't a damsel in distress. He was a blood lusting immortal dammit. The blond gave the taller one credit though. For the sake of his care.

"What's the matter tough guy?" Seifer narrowed dire eyes on Axel's. "You too pissed to cry on your whore for a mothers shoulder? Oh wait, you don't even know where the slutty bitch is."

The three hoodlums laughed.

The blond twitched at the words.

The ticking time bomb bursted.

"You're fucking dead!!!"

Axel threw his body forwards and swung furious fists. Miss. Roxas ensnared the back of his shirt and yanked him away from the troublesome trio without effort before any flesh could be damaged. Axel struggled and writhed and squirmed towards his precise victims to no avail. Blondie had the teen right where he wanted him. The back of his shirt began to tear. Roxas saw this and enveloped his arms around his thin waist, hauling him backwards. The others watched him do so with reasonable shock.

"Cool it." Roxas muttered in his ear so only they were the wiser.

"No!" He wailed. "Let me go! Get off or I swear I'll–"

"Or you swear you'll what?" the undead boy asked calmly. "You'll take it out on me instead? Would that be better?"

He only snarled and attempted to wrench away from the vise-like clutches of leather masked claws with no success. Roxas strongly overheard a hushed whisper from Riku, saying something along the lines of "Please get him out of here". He gladly obliged to do so. Roxas simply turned on the ball of his heels and walked off with the kicking and screaming Axel, like he was only an armful of textbooks. Swearing and hollers came from the three rivals but Roxas paid no attention to them. He headed for his motorcycle across the lot.

When he reached his destination, Roxas jerked the outraged teenager and firmly pressed two fingers into the very faint bruise that still resided on the enraged one's neck. Axel hissed as a bolt of pain surged through him, and this stopped his wild tantrum almost immediately. Roxas removed the pressure from his collar bone and turned to straddle the ebony gleaming sport bike.

"Sorry about that. I was debating on slapping you but that seemed too cruel, even for me. Now come on," he motioned for Axel to come hither. "Let's get out of here."

There was no response to this. Axel merely rubbed at his sore throat, thinking that he'd prefer the slap over the unwanted fingers delving into his pulsing bruise. He watched the immortal with cautious eyes as his heavy pants of rage were beginning to subside. He clamped his teeth down on his bottom lip and nearly drew blood. Roxas could tell. He could just barely detect the aroma of his sweet skin start to break. He shook the unwanted thought far away and patted the seat behind him. Axel looked at him strangely.

"Where are you gonna take me?"

"That hardly matters now. Don't you think?"

There was a pause before Axel huffed out a breath of air. "Yeah," he agreed.

He swung a leg over the back of the motorcycle, his heated body nearly smothering the shorter, colder one. He gripped the vampire's hips so tight it was almost too agonizing to withstand. Roxas didn't mind it. He knew Axel needed to relieve his anger in some way. He was just glad he was there to intervene so he hadn't relieved it through violence. Violence never solved anything. It only exacerbated problems. He knew this best. Roxas kicked back the metal stand that propped the motorcycle up and revved the engine. It roared beneath them and with the tires screaming, they were off into the town without once looking back.

.

As pissed off as Axel was, he couldn't deny the fact that his anger was nearly forgotten now. He was not only alone with Roxas. He was alone with Roxas in his luxurious mansion. He had hesitated at the fact that Cloud might be there but the vampire reasurred him that he wouldn't be back home until later. This comforted him. Alas, his temper was _nearly_ forgotten. It still sat rather uncomfortably in his belly, wallowing and saddened that he couldn't do anything about it. Roxas was aware of this entirely.

"I had no idea who those guys were," he watched as Axel browzed shifty eyes around his home. "Or what they knew. But I understand now. I apologize about what happened back there."

"I hate that."

Roxas stiffened. "Hate what?"

"When people say sorry for something they were never responsible for. It's degrading. I don't want to be pitied. I don't ask for that." He locked his aggrivated attention on a particularly expensive looking coat of mail behind one of the many glass displays.

Roxas contemplated on whether he should apologize for that too but he figured he'd only bother him further. So he remained quiet. Years of experienced conversations taught him that the best answer to one who needs attention the most, is to _not_ give them attention. They would eventually come around when they were ready in their own time. So silence engulfed them. It wasn't awkward and it wasn't tense. It was comfortable in fact. Axel's curiosity wandered everywhere imaginable. Until finally, he came around to Roxas' correct delight.

"You don't have a mom either. Do you?"

The blond sighed. "I never knew her."

"Lucky," Axel's hurt gaze met Roxas'. "I haven't seen mine for years and I don't want to. She… well, you heard Seifer. He summed it up as honestly as he could, the bastard. I guess that makes me a real son of a bitch then."

He pressed a laugh and Roxas looked down, hurt that he knew this front very well now. He couldn't help himself, saying, "I'm so sorry."

"Why?" he snipped angrily.

"Because you don't deserve that," Roxas countered. "Because I can't stand to see you pretend like everything's okay when its not and I want… I want you to be happy. Regardless of your past and any troubles it held, I think of you just the same and… I like who you are."

Axel stared at him. Speechless. He was annoyed at the fact that he said he was sorry again but at the same time, he was enthralled to know that Roxas gave a damn about his crazy antics and even somewhat admitted feelings for him. His mother –or lack of a better term– was never there to give a damn like Roxas was doing now. Axel could never recall upon the vaguest memory where the uncaring woman acted motherly, not once. He only knew the stench of alchohol on her when she would come home, the dismissal of her only son's existance, and the overpowering heartache that she had brought him and his devoted father.

Mothers aren't supposed to be addict drunkards. Mothers are supposed to stay with their child's father forever. They're supposed to love their children, embarrass them in front of their friends, bake them sweets, make all the wrongs right, and tuck them into bed with the promise of adventure stories galore until a more youthful child Axel rendured to the sweet nirvana of sleep. He longed for this. He wished for this. He cried for this. He pummeled anything and everything that dared to disrupt this yearning. It killed him inside. He tried with all his might to have that fantasy mother. Try as he might have, she never came. Never. In fact, the more he wished, the less he'd see her. Until altogether, she vanished from his life completely.

He _wasn't_ happy. No one ever really cared enough to do anything for the foul tempered boy. Too many people feared him. At least not until now. The frail mortal eyeballed the wolf in sheeps clothing before him. An innocent lamb. A vicious wolf. All in one wonderfully wrapped package. Underneath it all, the tepid vampire was a lot like himself. This made him smile. This made him happy. Even if it only was for a brief moment, it mattered the world to him. He relaxed his tense posture and gave way to their conversation. He felt good doing this. _Relieved_.

"Thank you." Axel said, trying his best to restrain himself from chuckling when Roxas was gave him a cute lost puppy look. "But I'd like to hear more about you if you don't mind."

Roxas scoffed, crossing his arms childishly. "What else is there to hear? I've told you just about everything."

"Not in detail. Besides, you never mentioned that you didn't date according to Riku."

Blondie cringed. That nosy, pain in the ass, silver haired boy must have pried it out of Sora. Damn him. He made a mental note to get him back for that later. "I can't date. I won't date. It hardly matters anyhow. I'm fine on my own, Axel."

He sent him a devilish smirk. "I don't think you mean that."

"Why would I go and make something up?"

Axel snatched the vampire's hand and pulled off the leather glove, exposing ravenous nails. "Sensitive hands, my ass. You only lie to protect what you are, Roxas – No… _Ventus_. What the hell do I even call you now? I don't even know if that's your real name or not."

Blondie shifted almost nervously, _almost_. His composure remained uneffected and his unnatural poise was still regal and undisturbed. He cleared his throat and leaned his back against the glass casing that sealed the coat of mail Axel was eying earlier. Now was a better time than any to explain a thing or two again.

"Roxas is my first name, given by my mother," he looked for any hint of anger in the mortal's eyes and found none. He sighed contently at this. "Ventus however, is my middle. It was given to me by my father. When I was younger, I moreover went by Ven."

"I like Roxas better."

"Me too."

"Roxas..."

Roxas drew his attention away from the floor and to the human, who had suspiciously lessened their distance and was almost cornering him against the glass. So much for comfort zones. Then, the empathetic blond felt something strange swell and brush off the other being. It was a feeling he wasn't accustomed to. It made him uneasy. Axel seemed to want to close in what little space there was between them. His eyes were clouded with an unrecognizable emotion and his hazy gaze hungrily wandered over undead lips. Roxas gulped. He did _not_ like this situation at all.

"Wanna see my room?" Roxas mumbled, looking away.

Axel's face fell. "Err, sure."

He quickly about faced and led Axel by the hand, across the bottom of the mansion floor and up one of the decadently embellished staircases. He let go of Axel's hold as they met an old door that didn't look quite as refurbished as the others along the hall. Roxas opened the rickety, sqeaking door and darkness swallowed them whole. The redhead entered blindly, wondering hopelessly how Roxas could see in such conditions. He considered it had something to do with his inhuman abilities since he was continuing to lead him further still.

The dainty vampire set the lanky teen still in one unidentified spot to only leave his side, reasurring that he was going to retrieve a source of light. Not long after he left Axel standing alone and a little cold, a sickly pale brightness streamed itself from behind thick velvet drapes that Roxas fastened back. Axel's eyes adjusted to the light then suddenly widened, his mouth frozen in the shape of an 'o' as he finally caught sight of Roxas' personal domain.

"_Whoa_," was all he managed to say.

It was everything that Axel remembered the mansion as. Ancient, beckoning, and simultaneously frightening. Towering bookshelves splayed along the walls, dusty victorian antique furniture were scattered all over, numerous persian rugs were sprawled across the floors, and a King size bed with four wooden collums presented itself devinely at the end of the room. Beside the sleeping quarters rested a tall open-door wardrobe, presenting a petit, prestine set of medival armor. Axel gawked at it, his mouth still unable to close. It looked like it was made for a child, a warrior child. Beside that was a closed glossy black casket. He felt goosebumps give rise.

"I apologize if it's a little messy," tuned in the immortal warrior himself. "The mansion went under major restoration but I kept my room untouched by my request. Makes me feel at home."

"Home," Axel said again, feeling taken back by it all and even a little lost. "Roxas… You're a legend. A hero."

"And immortal," he said bitterly, plopping down at the foot of his enormous bed.

Axel joined him with more enthusiasm. He lept backwards onto the bed, bouncing as he collided. He grinned, outstretching his arms across the almost endless matress. "You say that like it's a bad thing. You're so lucky, do even realize that? I'd give just about anything to be like you."

Roxas winced. He then scowled, removing his other glove and gently took out his sulking brown contacts. Bright cobalt optics were exposed, gleaming with fury, and just hinting the faintest red around the pupil. "There is _nothing_ lucky about an endless life, Axel. I've gone through hell. Cloud, put me through hell. But the worst part… is seeing my friends _die_ at my side and then continuing on with my life without ever having the hope of seeing them again. You're foolish to want this curse."

_Die_? Axel was surpised by this. After all, Terra and Aqua _did_ die. He felt too guilty to ask about it though. He had obviously hurt his feelings. He made a mental note to ask about that later. Preferably at a more appropriate time. "Roxas. I didn't –"

"It's not your fault. I don't dwell on my past too often but it's better to remember than to forget, right?" he smiled. "Thank you."

Axel was confused by his sudden thanks but he accepted it anyhow. It seemed he still had a lot to learn about him. He would never imagine these possiblities when he first met him. Granted, he was thankful Roxas eventually welcomed him into his life anyway. That must have taken a lot of trust to do. Axel frowned. The more he thought about it, the more he figured Roxas trusted him not only with his secret, but with his life. Immortal life no less. What would his friends think if they knew? His father? The rest of the town?

Would they accept him? Or fear him?

He scoffed inwardly. Surely they wouldn't reject him. He was the world's savior. A hero, Xigbar had proclaimed. Who in their right minds would tear down a hero? Axel found himself frowning again. A lot of people would. Recognition for something is obsolete. It isn't immortal. Not like Roxas. It only fades. Just like happiness.

Feeling rather depressed now and noticing that Roxas was brooding quietly too, he drew his attention onto something that would hopefully lift his spirits. It didn't take long for that to happen. He arched his neck back, discovering a bright display of two glorious and breath taking swords that were crossing each other just above the head rest. One was silver and designed so curiously that Axel had never seen one of that fashion before. The other was black and detailed differently but they shared the same overall feel. Like keys.

"Holy shit," Axel gaped. "Are those yours?"

Roxas hummed to himself, then turned to see what the fuss was about. He chuckled when he saw what it was. "Oathkeeper's the silver one and Oblivion is the black. Those are almost as old as I am."

Axel tore his eyes from the ancient swords and lurched forwards to face the shorter male. He arched a red brow. "You call your coffin black beauty, your swords Oathkeeper and freaking Oblivion. Do you name anything else that I should know about?"

Roxas only smirked. He promptly hoisted himself onto the bed and made his way over to the wall where he lifted the black blade he called Oblivion and tossed it for Axel to catch with cautious hands. He then took the silver one, Oathkeeper, and twirled it about with great skill. He tossed it into the air, catching it with ease and pointed it at the redhead in a challenging stance.

"Let's see how good you handle that on for size and then I'll consider telling you."

He winked, lowered the blade, and leapt off the bed. He gestured for the flushing mortal to follow him out of the room and the breathless human could only trail in awe, noticing how the vampire's hips intoxicatingly swayed from side to side as he departed his room and declined down the extravagent stairway. He broke from the trance-like state once they met the bottom and he fiddled with the dark sword in his hands.

"Are you flirting with me?" Axel asked forwardly.

"Maybe."

"You're full of bullshit."

"What makes you say that?"

Axel looked at the sword in his hands for a moment and prepared himself to spar. "You say you _can't_ date, _won't_ date. Yet here you are, teasing the hell out of me. Do you get off torturing me?"

An equally teasing smile painted along his pink lips. Roxas whirled Oathkeeper around and around, swinging it at full speed towards his interrogator. Axel smirked, blocking the attack with Oblivion, which was slightly trembling in his clutch. The vampire was impressed but not quite enough. He swiped away from the lock, twirled into a crouch and gently swung his leg at the back of Axel's knees. The soft blow sent him to the floor. Roxas pounced in a flash, squatting onto his torso with a hand pinning down his huffing chest and the other aimed the archaic silver blade to the redhead's throat.

"I'd be more careful with your choice of words," he purred and stood, offering a hand to help him up. "No, I don't get off like that and no, I'm not flirting with you either. I'll leave that for dates… which I don't do by the way."

Defeated, Axel set down Oblivion and took his helping hand to get back on his feet with an unexpected, victorious grin. "According to you, I'm already yours."

"_What_?"

"You forget already, Blondie? That night in the woods? "_Mine_"."

"Oh," his face became a rosy color as he averted his azure eyes. "Sorry. Sometimes I can't help the possessive vampire in me."

"Can you help it now?" came a third voice.

Axel cringed. Though he only heard that voice once before, he only needed to hear it once more in order to recognize it had belonged to Roxas' father. He turned to the entrance doors and discovered not only the intimidating elder immortal but he decided he found him even more intimidating as he tightly grasped at a ridiculously monolithic sword. The damn weapon was as big as _Axel_. His already fair complexion went three shades lighter. Axel grieved at the dizzying thought that he might faint again. The possibility of death utterly shook his being with a fear he hadn't felt in years. Today just kept getting better and better.

"_Cloud_," Roxas hissed, stepping forward and in front of Axel. He watched him do this with a little pride. He was defending him, just as Axel had. "He's my friend and I say he stays. I won't let you push him away from me."

"Rox." Cloud discouraged, glowering in a manner undeniably similar to how Roxas passionately did too. "I'll credit you for bravery, but I cannot disregard that you broke your word. However, I'm feeling rather nice today. He _can _stay. He is allowed my acceptance entirely. _If _he doesn't bleed at your disposal."

"Excuse me?!" Axel screeched. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Stay where you are," Roxas crooned in a comforting manner, taking Oathkeeper in both of his hands now. His brilliant blue irises blinked a glowing blood red as he whispered. "I'll protect you."

.

**P****ale: Hmm… sense seme Roxas much?**

**Axel: Me likes it.**

**Pale: I concur.**

**Roxas: I guess I get no say in this.**

**Pale: Damn straight you don't.**

**Axel: Psst! Reviews make Pale write seme Roxy!**

**Roxas: I'm so not gonna protect you now.**

**Axel: Gulp O_o'**


	7. The Follower

**I do not own KH or it's characters.**

**Mezzanine**

_**Chapter Seven: **__**The Follower**_

Riku and Demyx found themselves feeling completely spurned and neglected the moment Axel had departed. It wasn't entirely because of the fact that they were left to deal with his messy complications. It also wasn't the fact that Seifer and his gang pushed and teased and cursed them in Axel's place. Words hurt. But it didn't break them. They were stronger than that. However, the missing space that was left behind was a different matter. It left them short handed one man and gypped with not much else to do once they left the school and behind it, the bullies that have had it out for the hot head for as long as they could remember.

They decided it was better if they stuck together for the remainder of the day. They needed it after all. Parting from each other would only mean one less of a friend again. Riku suggested that they do something in order to take their minds off the missing piece to their puzzle. Although Demyx was more than happy to agree, they found themselves in a pickle. Everything that they thought up to do, reminded them of their moody, troublesome pal. Nevertheless, they moved along.

With many thoughts of what exactly it was they were going to do, at last, they came to terms with a brilliant idea. Demyx offered they take a quick trip to the town mall. After all, the water loving boy needed a new wetsuit for his delightful surfing escapades. Seeing that Axel despised anything to do with the ocean, Riku agreed wholeheartedly. With the bitter thought of their friend still lingering at the back of their minds, they stuck with their plan and went on with their ordinary (vampire-less) lives.

Demyx knew of one surf shop in town and it was by far the best one his world had to offer. Destiny Island's Surf was a store in its own that had its pros and cons, coming in at a close second to his favorite shops. But Demyx's preferred boards, clothing, and gear were supplied at Twilight Beach Retail. It had it all and more. Riku was slightly annoyed that the dishwater blond was so ecstatic about it all but a positive mood only meant it would rub off on another, which it did. The pale silver haired one followed the skipping teen down an isle with an embarrassed but happy scoff.

Then, as Demyx was chattering about the latest surf waxes, Riku spied a familiar dark figure at the corner of his eyes. Feeling very bold, he snatched his chirping friend and faced him in the direction of the familiarity. Riku chuckled saying, "See that?"

"See what?" Demyx asked a little puzzled with his joy never extinguished.

"Your future love interest, dumbass."

Demyx groaned in annoyance and teal green eyes focused on what exactly Riku had been fussing over. He gasped and ducked behind his slightly taller friend. At the far end of the store between a row of long boards and wet suits was Xigbar, dressed down, alone, and obviously searching for a board to purchase. Demyx was in utter shock. This just wasn't happening. Everybody knew it was weird as hell to see teachers at fun, easy going, teenage suited environments. No less, Demyx's favorite place to shop.

Riku nudged his flushing and embarrassed friend towards the tanned history teacher. Demyx protested with a pout, whining as he attempted to flee from the store. The athletic one quickly caught a hold of Demyx again, shaking the silly out of him.

"You said you needed a wetsuit, no?"

"Yeah! But–"

"But nothing," Riku insisted. "Go and look for one. Does it really matter if the man is there or not? And who knows? Maybe you could catch up with your Casanova on the latest spin off adventure. I wonder what it'll be tonight. Role play?"

"Riku!" Demyx whined, slugging a pale muscled arm. "I'm not a skank dammit. I swear I _never_ did anything sexual with him!"

Riku tilted his head and folded his arms, not believing him. With a quick check if the teacher was still out of earshot and across from the store, which he was, Demyx sighed and rubbed the back of his neck timidly. "Promise not to tell if I told you how I scored the A?"

"Cross my heart," he said honestly.

Demyx sheepishly mumbled something.

"What?"

Again, he muttered incoherent words.

"Can't hear you, Demy."

"I baked him heart shaped cookies!"

Riku's face fell, a little disappointed. He gave a weak, "What?"

Demyx drew in a deep breath of air, and exhaled tiresomely. "Last year… before every test… I'd bake him little pink heart shaped cookies. I took a culinary course and one time I offered him some and he enjoyed them. Since that happened, I would make him some whenever we'd have a pop quiz or anything like that. Stupid, I know."

Damn. Riku was inwardly hoping that it would be like a cheesy TV soap opera and he'd gush out every scandalous detail to him. Sadly, life just wasn't spruced up episodes of romantic TV dramas. But Riku felt accomplished either way. He at least got a confession and that –in his opinion– was the best part of soap operas. He tsked at Demyx, turned him to face the browsing history teacher and pushed him forward again.

"You're too gay for your own good. Just go talk to him before I get him to talk to _you_."

Demyx could handle approaching the man on his own instead of Riku introducing them. That would be a nightmare come to life. Nothing was worse than that sort of horrible embarrassment. After all, what worse situations were there in his life? Facing the monster beneath the bed? _Hardly_. So with an encouraging nudge of the back, Demyx stumbled into the isle that held the upbeat history teacher.

He entered and looked back to Riku who gave him two thumbs up in support. Demyx nodded with a tremble and swallowed down a lump of fear. He turned and continued onwards, shifting and prodding at the row of black wetsuits. He didn't look at the man right away and he was fuzzed and shifting constantly in his peripheral vision. Not very interested in the high quality suits anymore, he at last stole a cringing glance.

"Demyx?" the teacher's voice asked skeptically.

When his eyes finally met the tall man's deep cocoa one. Demyx felt his ears go hot and he chuckled nervously. He waved a bashful hand. "Oh, h-hi."

"Strange seeing a student when I'm off the clock," he smiled warmly. "Do you come here often?"

Demyx swore on his special edition Finding Nemo DVD that the sudden faint laughter in the store had belonged to Riku. He bit his bottom lip and shrugged haphazardly. "Actually I do. I was just looking for a new suit."

"You surf too?" the older one chimed.

"Yeah," Demyx perked up, feeling much more confident. "I would never guess that you would be into this too."

"Actually," Xigbar chuckled. "I rode the waves a lot when I was younger and I figured I'd pick it up again but I'm so sure anymore. It's been a while and I'm rustier than ever."

_Opportunity snagged_.

"I could help… if you want." The teacher's aid peeped quietly.

A dark brow arched and Xigbar quirked a debonair, sultry grin that made Demyx's spine quiver with anticipation for his next well yearned for words. Seeing a particular history professor outside of school grounds seemed surreal now and became enjoyably pleasant all of a sudden. His upbeat, stern, and charismatic company suited the younger ones completely. Demyx was allured, enthralled, and even mesmerized at this confrontation. He simply had to thank Riku for this later, as much as it would probably annoy him too.

"Are you offering a teacher surfing lessons?"

The dishwater blond giggled at this and mewled a soft, "Yes."

"In that case," he uttered roughly. "Let's start with boards. Would you suggest I ride short or long?"

Demyx coughed, losing his composure at the statement, and Xigbar eyed him comically. He inwardly kicked himself for taking it as a sexual innuendo. After all, Xigbar _is_ a high school teacher. Being a senior had its advantages but Demyx was pretty sure it had nothing to do with crushing on or even dating a teacher when he wasn't even of legal age yet. He figured flirting was harmless though. So he quickly collected himself, and then answered in a calm tone. "I'm going to have to see how you do with both. From there, we'll pick things up. But first thing's first… here's my number."

.

"I'll protect you."

These simply placed words coursed and echoed through Axel's conscience. They were spoken with the pure intent of truth. Although it was meant for comfort, it did little to affect the shaken mortal teenager. He was a bold guy –he knew– but not now. He felt cowardly, brittle, and startled like a mouse before a cat, a _very_ large cat. Axel childishly compared his predicament to the lion and the mouse story that Reno had told him when he was a child. He prayed to whatever higher power above that _his_ story would end the same. Happily ever after. The unlikely mouse remained uneaten and the powerful lion accepted the rodent's friendship. He prayed and prayed and prayed for just this.

Hope was well acknowledged for he had a lion of his own. Roxas let a growl resonate at the depths of his throat. His boyish frame shifted weight from foot to foot, an angered lion prepared for a competitive brawl. God forbid he let his own father make Axel bleed in his presence. That was the last thing he needed. Cloud's sapphire orbs welled into a vicious scarlet, almost brighter than his son's. The two otherworldly gazes met sharply and a tension became so thick in the atmosphere it could be slit in two.

Roxas slowly gestured with the batting of his hand for Axel to back up. With his life at stake, he submitted to the notion with caution. Cloud's piercing eyes went straight to the movement and he snarled, charging forwards with his larger than life sword directed toward his particularly human prey. Axel's breath hitched at the sheer speed the elder was gaining but was in more shock at Roxas' quicker reaction. Blondie bolted head on, wielding his precious Oathkeeper with a sly thrust. Metal met metal in a sparked clink.

Cloud put all his weight down the blade, forcing Roxas to kneel a leg. His jaw clenched and his eyes squeezed shut. With a constricted grunt, Roxas pushed himself upwards and unlocked the strong iron clutch. They danced in a blur of a violent sway. Swords clashed and chipped and sliced in a thunderous rhythm that spellbound Axel. Their agility was inhumanly fast, their offense was near impossible to keep up with to the naked eye, and their defense was just as equally impressive. This went on for what felt like an eternity to Axel. He remained uneasy just the same.

Axel noticed that Roxas began to tire after a great deal of time passed. His swings were missing his target, his dodges grew lethargic, and his determined expressions showed signs of fatigue. These were costly actions. Every now and then, Cloud would nick the younger immortal's skin. His bicep, his cheek, and his chest were open with crimson fluids steadily pouring. They'd heal in seconds. Only to be reopened by the brunt of Cloud's blade again. Then, they eventually stopped resealing altogether. This scared Axel.

He couldn't take this much longer. He had to do something. Anything.

_Oblivion_, he thought with his eyes awry. Lowe and behold, lying peacefully at the floor before the coat of mail display was the ebony keyblade itself. It was only an arms reach away. Suddenly, a displeasing wail of pain soared throughout the mansion. Axel refrained from retrieving the sword to look back at the foul play between father and son. He sucked in a rust scented breath of air. Roxas was hunkered over, his red stained arms hugging his stomach. His forearms parted, revealing a deep gash along his gut. It appeared his arms were keeping his innards from spilling out.

Oathkeeper must have been knocked out of his hands, for the redhead hadn't seen it near him. Furious at the painful sight, Axel went for Oblivion again, calling out to Roxas –who was at the other end of the room– and tossed him the ancient sword. The blond caught it with one hand, his other arm remained at his belly. With his dying streak of defense at last seeing a hopeful shed of light, Roxas prepared to swing Oblivion.

A whir of silver and yellow brandished across Roxas' path. Red eyes shrunk to blue and he suddenly cried out several octaves louder –Axel was forced to cover his ears at this– and Oblivion fell clunking to the ground. Along with it, Roxas' severed hand.

Axel's stomach turned sourly. He nearly dry heaved at the sight but temperance kept his food down. Feeling not so scared anymore, he made a mad dash to a screaming Roxas who was currently convulsing and writhing in agony on the floor. Axel gently settled the vampire into his lap and tore off his black jacket. He wrapped it around the stub of Roxas' gushing wrist and forced his fingers into the wet cloth to keep the blood from further flow. The blond only cried louder as he did this.

"What is _wrong_ with you?!" Axel screamed at Cloud who was looking quite unfazed by the scene.

At last, an emotion was shown. The masochistic man smiled, chuckled even, shaking his head. "Roxas, he's such a worrier. He doesn't seem to get our play."

"Shut up! Have you lost your mind?! You honestly expect me to think of this as a game!? You just cut off his hand for fucks sake!"

"He's not complaining. Is he?" Cloud gingerly motioned to Roxas.

Before the hot head could retort, he noticed that Roxas' throaty yelps of pain had stifled into mere pants. "Axel…" he croaked, pushing off his jacket from his wrist. He gave the tearing up human an apologetic frown as he reached a handless arm to the bleeding extremity that was still latched onto Oblivion. To Axel's utter disbelief, veins and tendons and wires of blood shot out from the stub and into the hand. It dragged the severed hand across the floor and sucked itself snugly back into its rightful place. Roxas dropped Oblivion and flexed the reattached fingers. All the blood was gone. His hand looked virtually unscathed.

Axel watched the miraculous boy in his embrace. He stared with dry unblinking green eyes. Roxas stared back with a small reassuring grin. He mouthed a quiet, "I'm alright." Then, a squeaking noise emitted but Axel paid no attention to it, until a voice followed.

"_Spike_?"

The voice belonged to a well built, well dressed, raven haired man who stood at the now open front doors. Behind the man was a curious and ogling Sora. Roxas gave an exerted sigh and he shakily rose from the floor with the help of Axel. Pain still etched the vampires face but it looked tolerable. Cloud however, didn't look too high and mighty anymore to the redhead's abrupt surprise. He looked a little embarrassed even. Axel must have fallen into a rabbit hole becuase things were only getting curiouser and curiouser.

"Don't tell me you're throwing a party and I'm not invited. I'm a little hurt," the man looked to Axel with a smile. "Partying with a minor no less. I must really be missing out."

"Yeah well, you missed one hell of a show too." Roxas huffed.

"Yeah?" Axel oddly agreed without much breath.

The bright man's smile grew wider as he approached the three males, Sora lagging quietly behind him. He extended a very attached hand (to Axel's relief) for him to shake. "I'm Zack. You must be the famous Axel that Roxas talks so much about."

Axel nodded and shook Zack's strong hand with hesitance. Roxas was looking away sheepishly as if he hadn't heard what the man had said and for the most part, everyone had a relaxed and mellow attitude except for Axel. He was confused to no end at how quickly this family went from violence to quaint small talk in seconds. He just didn't get it. Again, he figured it had a lot to do with the old accustomed ways of immortals. The human gave Roxas a dangerous look that screamed 'You have some explaining to do'.

"Axel," Cloud said bitterly. "My son seems to fancy you more than I like to think. He's also shown that he can defend you just as easily. For that, I shall keep my word. You are welcome in our home. _Roxas_… you still have a lot to work on. That slip up shouldn't have happened. Mistakes get you no where in this life. Next time I'd like to see your stamina push harder and longer than that. Here," he tossed Roxas an orange bottle from his breast pocket.

The bewildered teen watched as Roxas unscrewed the bottle and greedily stuffed a generous handful of forest green pills into his mouth. His color gradually returned to its normal complexion and the wounds in his skin readily sealed themselves. He frowned at Cloud's rude insight but Axel could tell that Roxas was used to it. At this, he redirected his attention back to Cloud. "What would you have done if Roxas wasn't able to protect me?"

Zack's bright smile faded. Sora put a hand to his mouth. And Roxas went rigid.

Cloud answered immediately. "Rest assured I would have shown you that Twilight Town is no longer your home and that you'd know fear in an entirely different perspective."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I am."

"Cloud!" Roxas interjected in a drained shout.

"I wouldn't kill you if that's what you were thinking," Cloud ignored his son's heed. "But, I _would_ gladly take the life from you without a moment's hesitation if you ever decide to spread our little family secret. Mark my words. You will pay a costly price if that ever happens."

Zack's jubilant energy returned to its fullest as he suddenly wrapped an arm around Cloud's shoulders. He tousled his other hand through pale yellow spikes and Axel was surprised that Cloud showed no disagreement to these actions. "Excuse his lack of manners. I'm sure you'll understand that a millennium-long life can put a damper on anybody's personality. Sora, why don't you join Rox and his boyfriend? Tell them about what we talked about earlier. I need a private chat with Spiky here too."

With the "B" word said, Axel's chipper mood came back in an instant.

"Whoa, he's not my–"

"Oh come on cupcake, no need to deny."

"_Cupcake_?"

The sound of Sora clearing his throat and his happy go lucky father's chortle echoed simultaneously. Sora said, "I'd tell you two to get a room but I'm not sure I'd get my word in if that happened."

Axel glowered at the uneasy looking brunet. Funny as the comment was, Axel wasn't about to forget that Sora had something to do with Roxas not dating. Roxas however, simply dismissed the statement. He retrieved his swords with a bitter frown and headed to the middle space in between the two staircases. Sora and Axel gladly followed his trail. The younger vampire watched the two fathers discuss something in hushed tones across the way. Although they were soft and inaudible to humans, he could hear them plain as day. His curiosity drifted afar and he drowned out the sounds of their conversation. Not interested in what they had to say.

"Roxas," Sora started with a little excitement that Axel was not quite used to. "So are you two really an item now?"

The undead blond took a good long gander at his supposed 'item' and said, "No."

Ouch. Somehow, he felt that he had hurt both of the humans. Roxas was starting to regret his answer but he didn't want to take his word back either. He withstood his opinion. The mourning sorrow in his beloved cousin's eyes tugged at his heart strings, telling him to act otherwise. Still, he withstood. Axel although, wasn't quite as passive about his response.

"If I'm nothing to you, then why go through what Cloud just did?"

"His methods of _training _me are medieval," the undead boy sadly stated. "I go through that every day, Axel. Defending you or not defending you. You're my friend and I like you. More than you know, _but_…" he stopped and his big blue eyes grew somber. Even welled with tears.

"Sorry to interrupt," Sora put in softly. "But can you guys save this for another time? I need to say something extremely important… not that _this_ isn't important. But this is something that can't really wait."

Axel sighed heavily. He supposed whatever Roxas was going to say would eventually be revealed sooner or later. So he said to Sora, "Shoot."

"It's about the follower."

"_What_?" Roxas nearly shouted. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? Tell me whatever you know!"

"Follower?" Axel repeated, feeling confused and left out.

"Cloud and I have been relocating homes for the past few decades," Roxas explained rather excitedly. "We've always done this, on the account that we obviously live longer than our neighbors and it'd be strange to them if we never aged and never died – anyway. Just recently, we've been forced to move on more occasions because we've noticed that there were patterns of somebody or something watching us."

"Roxas and Cloud even lived with us for the longest time," Sora added. "But they left when they realized the follower was on their trail again."

"We've never been able to shake off whatever it is. Wherever we go, it follows." Roxas said with a rare gleaming smile that made Axel's heart skip a beat or two.

Axel lightly shook his head and went back to the topic at hand. "Well, why are you happy about that?"

"Because of what _I _know," Sora stated.

Roxas beamed, "And?"

"You know how there's been an increased rate of heartless?"

Axel knew this. He knew this very well. After all, he had his first encounter with one only a few months prior. Surely that meant that there were more of them now. He obviously would have heard about –or seen– the heartless before if they were in greater numbers. But apparently, they weren't in great numbers. Less heartless and beings like Roxas meant the more oblivious Axel's "average" society were to them. What Sora asked didn't entirely make sense until the redhead remembered what Roxas told him about heartless and their creators.

"Yeah?" Roxas pursed his nervous lips.

Sora cleared his throat once more, saying, "Roxas, your follower is another vampire."

At that exact moment, a scramble and clashing noise emitted behind them. Within milliseconds, Cloud was at the boys' sides. His eyes grew aflame in a hellish red color and he used his hands to part between them. Roxas' eyes went red too. Zack sprinted to the scene as the two vampires approached the great grand window between the stairs. They peered at the darkening outside world and Axel noticed something odd outside that had caught the vampire's attention too. At the window pane, there were lined enigma scratches all along it. Axel stiffened and felt his blood go cold.

Axel hesitantly tip toed forwards and tugged on the back of Roxas' shirt. The blond looked over his shoulder and Axel swallowed hard. He asked "Did you do this?"

"_Me_?" Roxas quirked. "Why would you ask that?"

All eyes were on the flush redhead as he replied. "When I was at the hospital, I saw those same marks on the window sill. I assumed... I- I don't know what I'm assuming. I thought maybe you were watching me."

Cloud glared at his only son. But he didn't speak and he didn't act upon what was said. Axel had a gut feeling that it was because Zack was there.

"I would be lying if I told you it wasn't me who watched you from the hospital. But _this_ was not my doing. These are... territorial markings," Roxas' cheeks went pink. "They clearly weren't here before. Cloud and I have been inside all this time. It's undeniable that another immortal made these."

"Welcome to our life." Cloud added loudly with his red eyes glowing at Axel. "If Roxas can't protect you from the wreckless vampire out there, then I don't know who else can. _Good luck_."

.

A vibration buzzed inside the pocket of dark denim jeans. A strong, clawed hand reached inside the pocket and retrieved the source of the rumbling tremors. The ravenous hand pulled out a midnight black cell phone, flipping it open. A new text message was recieved. '_Can't wait to teach my teacher_!'

The man let a devious chuckle resonate at the back of his throat. He sighed in a satisfied way and punched in a reply. He was careful his nails didn't damage the phone. '_Can't wait to be taught!_'

The immortal teacher sent the message and shut the phone, stuffing it back into his dark denim jean pocket. He extended his arm out and intensely observed his precious claws with an artistic appreciation before taking his index finger into the cave of his mouth. Fangs cut straight through the tough dexteritry of the nail. It broke off and he spat it out, moving onto the next finger to do the same. As he did this, the vampire –with his other hand– lifted up his black eye patch. One red eye and one brown eye took a backwards glance at the Strife manor within the dark camoflouge of the wood. He smirked and continued to groom his unearthly nails. God forbid Xigbar let the truth be discovered.

.

**Axel: DAMN Pale! Tease the poor readers to death why don't you!**

**Pale: -shrug- It's what I do best.**

**Roxas: -stares at hand- I'm traumatized. **

**Pale: That was random... but fun to write.**

**Axel: How could you Pale! Roxy? Want me to kiss it and make it better?!**

**Roxas: Want me to STILL protect you?**

**Axel: ...shutting up.**

**Pale: ANYWAY. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! So many questions... plenty of time.**


	8. Danger Keep Away

**I do not own KH or it's characters.**

**Mezzanine**

_**Chapter Eight**__**: Danger Keep Away**_

_I wanted freedom  
Bound and restricted  
I tried to give you up  
But I'm addicted.  
Now that you know I'm trapped  
Sense of elation  
You'd never dream of  
Breaking this fixation.  
You will squeeze the life out of me._

_Time is Running out – Muse_

"Keep going. Long hard strokes. Yes! Just like that! Now you've got it!" Demyx bubbly cheered on.

Xigbar ceased his arms from paddling and pulled his drenched body upright until he was straddling his surf board. He crossed his arms and gave his younger instructor a childish pout. Demyx laughed nervously and maneuvered his own board to where he was sitting aside Xigbar in the rolling ocean.

"Nice wording there, dear teacher of mine" Xigbar blanched.

"Oh umm... " Demyx's face went hot, despite the fact that the rest of his body was freezing cold. "Sorry. You were doing so great so I thought–"

He jumped lightly at the sudden bout of laughter from Xigbar. The dark haired man clutched at his well toned abdomen and his other hand pinched away happy tears at his one brown eye. Xigbar shook his head, sweetly saying "I was just joking, Demy. To tell you the truth, I ought to be thanking you. Sorry. If it weren't for you, my ass wouldn't be out here now would it? Thanks."

Demyx smiled reassuringly. "You're welcome."

It was peaceful at Twilight Beach. No one else but the two males took up its space. The fact that it was still dark could have been a reason why. It was dawn when they started their surfing lessons. Now, the morning's presence was clearly making itself known. The sun's faint glimmer of gold and scarlet trimmed the lining of the great big blue. Demyx sighed happily at the sight. Only for this breath taking view he'd wake early. Only for the melodious roaring clash of the waves as he rode them. His heart was content here. Completely content.

As the boy blissfully daydreamed away, his unofficial pupil watched on curiously. Xigbar chuckled deeply. This unwavering sound caught Demyx off guard. It sent chills rippling up and down his spine. His young eyes connected with a chocolate one. He found himself ensnared by the mere eye alone.

Not helping himself and being the bigmouth that Demyx knew he was, he innocently asked, "What happened to your eye?"

Xigbar's smile never left his features. It remained still, even broadened as he replied to the teenager. "A nasty accident. No jokes there. I won't go into the gory details. So to put this long story short, my right eye was extinguished so to speak. By a monster."

"Monster?" Demyx giggled. "Like an eye gouging bear or something?"

"Something like that" the man explained truthfully, lightly flicking at his leather eye patch. "But in a way, I never lost it."

Demyx felt himself shudder for some odd reason. "Oh. What do you mean by that?"

"When you lose things, kid. You tend to gain things that replace them."

Before Demyx had the time to contemplate what he had said, he noticed Xigbar had dived under, surf board and all. When he did that, the abrupt salty foam of a wave promptly enveloped Demyx. It knocked him off his board and sent him whirling in a spiral beneath the surface. The velcro restraint at his ankle tugged sideways, alerting Demyx that his board had reached above sea level.

Having not been prepared for the wave, Demyx hadn't held his breath. His throat tightened and his lungs ached. The dark blond swam for the top but another wave tossed him rolling even faster. This wave cast him to the sea floor, crashing him into stone hard coral. When Demyx felt the cord snap free from his ankle, it was then he knew he was in trouble. This was happening too fast for him to comprehend. Where was Xigbar? Where the hell...

Demyx's thoughts fuzzed and jumbled. He needed air. He needed air.

His lips opened and bubbles escaped. Before he sucked in water, he felt a great squeeze around his body, and then he sucked in air.

Demyx sputtered in shock. His eyes adjusted, realizing that his upper half was hunching over what seemed to be Xigbar's board.

A lithe finger touched his chin, lifting it up to meet his rescuers gaze. Demyx's heart drummed uncontrollably. _What just happened?_

"I thought _you_ were the one who was supposed to be in control here. It looks like you might need my help with this, too." Xigbar cooed, leaning down to meet Demyx's astonished face. "Are you okay?"

Not sure how to respond, Demyx didn't answer. He looked around for his board and it didn't take long for him to find it bobbing about, scattered in huge shards all around him. The vicious surf must have demolished it. Mortified, Demyx frowned at the death of his long time beloved board and crawled up onto Xigbar's. They wordlessly straddled it together. Both facing one another.

"Did you hear me?" Xigbar neared the boy's face again. "I asked if you were hurt, little mermaid?"

Demyx quickly noticed just how close their faces were. He gulped and looked away, embarrassed at the lack of space. "N-no I don't think so– Ow!"

He clutched both hands around his neck. A stinging, throbbing pain became very apparent all of a sudden. Demyx whined a little and wanted to rub the sore spot but couldn't when he realized that it hurt him more when he touched whatever it was that pained him.

Stronger, larger hands took his own away. Xigbar eyed a reddening patch of irritated flesh on Demyx's throat. His sight was intimidating. It almost frightened the younger one. Almost.

"You must have brushed across the reef" Xigbar droned, his eye never blinking. "You should be fine. But here... let me make it all better."

Demyx peeped a whimper when a calloused hand snaked around the back of his neck, arching him backwards. _Now what's happening?!_ he thought frantically. Demyx's thoughts diminished when he felt something nuzzle into him. It took a while for him to deduce that a pair of icy cold lips were languidly grazing all along his throat. It wasn't a kiss but it wasn't particularly anything else either. Whatever the hell it was, Demyx couldn't get enough of it. His eyes rolled back closed and a huff of air escaped his mouth. And before Demyx knew it, the amazing sensation was gone.

Teal eyes batted open and found that Xigbar was strangely facing the other direction. Demyx cocked his head curiously. The board hardly moved at all. How the hell did Xigbar manage turning the opposite way so stealthily? Something wasn't right. Something... wasn't...

"I shouldn't have done that" came the man's quivering voice. "Demyx... I'm sorry. We should get going. School starts in an hour any–"

"Thank you" Demyx said, his unsure and trembling arms curling around Xigbar's shoulders from behind. "Thank you for saving my life."

Following that, the dirty blond leaned forwards and gave his teacher's cheek a chaste kiss. Xigbar's breath hitched and he blinked, dumbfounded.

Then Demyx let his arms fall, agreeing also. "We should get going. We'll save our lesson for another day."

_.  
_

Thud, thud, thud, went Axel's forehead against his desk. It was too damn early in the morning and he was too damn tired to give a crap about history. His first class had already started and Roxas hadn't shown up yet. His chit chat vampire buddy wasn't there to wake him up in order to start off his day. It sucked, but he figured the immortal would only show up late again. For the past few days, he had done just this. It was mainly on the account that the night prowling father and son would spend their said nights scouring Twilight Town for their immortal follower.

As the vampires increased their search, results proved unsuccessful. Roxas would always inform Axel that little progress would be made. The only trail that the follower left behind was a slow increasing amount of heartless, which they took care of. They would scavenge for the whole night and stop in the mid-morning so Roxas could attend school. It was a tiresome task but Roxas endured without complaint.

Speak of the devil.

In mid thud, Axel raised his head when he caught a glimpse of dark clothes and yellow hair at the door. He smiled from ear to ear. Roxas entered the classroom with a lively expression. There was no trace or sign that he hadn't slept the entire night.

The vivacious vampire adjusted the sling of his checkered bag and crossed the front of the room and down the middle row. The girls giggled and whirred in secrecy, and the boys couldn't help but stir and gawk. Roxas' unnatural glowing presence seemed to irk everyone. Axel smirked at the boy and casually leaned back in his chair. He had Roxas closer to himself than any of his peers ever dreamed of. Aside Sora, who the hell else would know just how unique Roxas was? Axel clicked his tongue triumphantly. Only he was the wiser. Only he was the wiser.

In Axel's opinion, that was the icing on the cake. Now if he could only get a cherry for the top…

When Roxas took his seat, Axel smugly scooted his chair a little closer to the blond's. "Any luck finding your creepy peeping tom, Roxy-bear?" he whispered gently.

Roxas seethed at the teen who was too damn alert, too damn early in the morning for his taste. "No Axel. I know you want to help and all, but _please_ do so more discretely. I can't risk anybody overhearing our conversations."

"You're right" Axel agreed devilishly, aimlessly flipping pages to his text book that made him appear obvious that he wasn't paying attention. "We should keep a distance from everybody. Maybe even run away. It'd be for the best if you think about it. You never know if the jocks might be scheming to keep me hostage and use me as bait to get to you. God knows what those sickos want with you."

The undead blond gawked in sheer disdain. "Please quit while you're ahead. You might hurt yourself."

"I'd be valuable collateral." Axel sarcastically proclaimed with a hand on his chest. "Don't believe me? How typical of a vampire. I'm ashamed."

Roxas shushed him, looking around nervously. "Quit it Axel, I'm serious. Need I remind you the promise you intend on keeping? Say anything and you'll be number one on Cloud's black list."

Axel shook his head and screwed a half grin on his lips. "You underestimate me far too much, Roxas. Now... say you join me at the movies later and I'll consider being a bit more quiet."

"You _wouldn't_" Roxas said dryly. "If you plan on blackmailing me, Axel Flurry, you better hope your legs run a hell of a lot faster than your mouth does."

"_Roxas_" the teacher's voice hissed sternly.

The two conversing males at the back froze and their attention drew to the tall tanned man up front. Xigbar looked extra temperamental today, Axel noted, and he couldn't exactly reason why. Roxas cleared his throat and answered his professor with a polite posture.

"Roxas, you can't as well come barging into my classroom late and act so defiantly as you're doing now. This has to be the fourth time this month that you've been tardy to class. I apologize for your inconvenience but I will not be so lenient anymore." Xigbar shook his head in disappointment.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again, Xigbar." Roxas explained from the back of the class.

"No, it won't…" the history teacher called out to a boy who was startled from a near asleep state. "Hayner. Gather your things. I want you to take Strife's seat. Apparently Flurry back there is having a negative influence on our star student. Come on Roxas, up front."

Axel nearly jumped out of his skin at his request. He had some very rebellious and very crude things to say to his teacher but the initial shock of Xigbar actually wanting to switch a student's seat had befuddled him silent. It appeared to have confused everyone else too, by the look of shock plastered on every students face. With the exception of Demyx. He looked strangely satisfied in fact. Axel's eyes narrowed at the white gauze on his neck. He decided he would ask about it later... if Demyx was willing to answer of course.

Roxas nodded and gave Axel a very weak shrug of the shoulders. His false brown eyes apologized and he began collecting his own things when Hayner impatiently waited for Roxas to leave his newly assigned seat.

Axel could only watch with a saddened face and an awful ache in his heart as Roxas took his new placement at the very _very_ front of the classroom. When the rearrangement was made, Axel was furious with himself that he was so affected by it. It was just a seat switch. It wasn't like their friendship was being ripped from him. Right? Axel sulked as he took a glance at Hayner and grimaced. It simply wasn't the same.

So much for the damn cherry on top.

"You two are close huh?" came Hayner's obnoxious voice. At least to Axel it was.

Not giving the courtesy of responding, Axel cast a malicious glare at the new boy aside him. Hayner got the hint right away that he wasn't one to meddle with.

Axel returned to his work with a lingering anger boiling in his belly. During the session, he'd steal glances at Roxas, who looked too absorbed in his work to look back at his friend. This made matters awkward for him. It was more awkward when Axel looked at Roxas for another time. He found Demyx just in front of the vampire, this time glaring at the redhead with a leer that would do _Roxas_ proud. Axel winced and began jotting notes.

He felt bad. Really bad. He felt like a friend who ditched his good friends kind of bad. Axel couldn't keep this front up for much longer. It was far too painful.

He grunted in annoyance. Why'd Xigbar have to switch up his lame upbeat teacher game at a time like this anyway? Axel scowled for not knowing.

.

Axel eyed his brown papered bag of lunch with distaste. He couldn't eat like this. Not when the things he had done unsettled him. Particularly because of his cold shoulder act towards his friends as of late. It wasn't like Axel intended to be this way. He just didn't know how else to avoid their constant questions about Roxas. He had to do something about it fast, otherwise he'd never forgive himself for such actions.

"Hey Roxas?" Axel perked.

The blond blinked at his human friend. He smiled, gesturing for him to continue as he set his school bag on the cafeteria floor next to his quiet cousin's feet. The vampire was sitting in between the two human boys and he was the only one that lacked food in front of him. Roxas was quite full in fact. Five iron pills in the morning did the trick. His animalistic appetite was well fed for now.

"Would you…" Axel started softly, not really knowing how to put his thoughts into words. "Do you think it would be okay if we had lunch with Demyx and Riku?"

Sora made a choking noise, startling the other two. The brunet made a fist and hit his chest a few times and his coughing eventually subsided. Roxas massaged the middle of his back and asked if he was alright. Sora stayed silent. He only nodded and continued to crank food into his mouth like nothing happened. Roxas could tell _he_ wasn't okay with it. Regardless, he knew Axel wanted to make up for lost cause. He was a part of the reason why Axel was so off lately, why Axel was away from his former friends.

"Its okay with me if its okay with Sora" Roxas answered.

Sora froze in mid chew when he felt Axel's gaze on him. He put down his turkey sandwich and wiped the crumbs from his mouth and cheeks. Sora terribly wanted to get up and leave at Roxas' suggestion. He wasn't ready to face Riku. It would be a while before he had the courage to talk to his old companion again. Not after they spilled their feelings for each other. Not after he rejected Riku so horribly like that. He loathed himself for it. But he considered that family always came first. Sora was committed like that. He respected his older immortal cousin's wishes. After all, Roxas did the same for him.

Roxas gave his younger relative a reassuring gaze. "If you don't talk to him, that's fine. But ignoring Riku's existence won't help you cope with your feelings. If anything it'll make things worse, Sora. I think you need this."

"Hold on" Axel said, ignoring the surprised look on Roxas' face. "I've been pretty patient about this, Roxas. But this is getting a little too unbearable. Can't you just tell me why you won't consider one harmless little date? It must be something reasonable in order for Sora to do the same."

"Let's go see Demyx and Riku!" Sora suddenly cried out. He leapt from his seat and pulled an uneasy looking Roxas up onto his feet.

Sora took Roxas by the hand and dragged him off, leaving their lunch and Axel behind. It took the redhead a minute to compute what had just happened then he shook off the outburst and sprinted after them.

The cousins headed towards the back of the school where it was quiet and where few dared to trespass. At first, Axel wasn't too sure if they still had their lunches there but once they arrived, he was proved wrong. To his recognition, Riku and Demyx were sitting beside each other on the floor, eating their food with somber looks painted on their friendly faces. Axel felt like this was going to be one interesting confrontation.

Riku was the first to spot the intruders. He made it seem as if he didn't see them but Axel didn't need immortal empathy in order to tell that Riku was just ignoring him. Sora looked petrified and Roxas put a consoling hand onto his shoulder. They moved closer and Demyx took notice to the intruders too. He looked shocked, then pissed. The creases to his expressions faltered and the anger undoubtedly became melancholy.

Axel took a deep breath and walked forwards.

"There's no room for company," Riku spat out before Axel could say anything.

A red brow arched and the tallest male scoffed. There was nobody in the area except them. He shook his head and continued with determination. "Look, I came here to apologize. I'm not here just because I miss you guys. I do… but I'm here because I'm sorry. I'm an ass, I get that okay?"

"A jackass at that," Riku added.

"Yeah," the redhead laughed sadly. "That I am. It doesn't mean that this jackass doesn't know how to work things out with his friends though. I'm sorry. Forgiving me is entirely up to you guys. I just needed to let you two know that I didn't do this to you on purpose."

"Then why are you doing this to us exactly?" Demyx asked in a shaky voice. "You're a lot shadier than I ever thought you could be. You're a lot more than just a jackass. You… you're just a…"

"It's not his fault," Roxas interjected. "If you have nasty names, send them to me, not him."

Axel stared wide eyed at the floor. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to look at the boy who was defending him.

"I'm not a people person," Roxas explained solemnly. "I don't like to socialize period. But Axel… he's changing that about me. I didn't see that our new friendship was unhooking him from you guys at first. But I see it now. I'm ashamed of that, which means that I'm the guilty one. Not him. I'm sorry. If you don't want me here, just say the word and I'm gone."

Axel's mouth dropped. The icing to his cake melted away. Roxas… gone? That can't happen. That _won't_ happen. He wouldn't allow it.

Axel managed to look at Roxas and Sora, from them to Demyx and Riku. He felt like he had to choose between them. That was no good. He wouldn't do that. He _couldn't_ do that. Axel couldn't even think about doing that to them. There were no favorites. One wasn't better than another. Sure, there was something special the immortal had that Riku and Demyx didn't have. That had only made Roxas different from them. It didn't mean that he was his favorite.

But… this was just what he had done. He had chosen one over another… and Roxas was defending him for his own selfish actions. Axel's chest throbbed in agony as he realized this.

"_Please_," Sora begged sheepishly, breaking the silence. "Please, don't be mad Riku. His intentions are only good. I want you guys to be okay. I want _us_ to be okay."

Riku's stiff posture softened. His defensive demeanor dropped. His aquamarine eyes locked with sapphire blue ones. Sora_ smiled_. Riku shivered delightedly, returning the smile back. He turned to Demyx and discovered that his demeanor had softened too. The silver haired teen stood and faced Axel. He looked at him carefully and searched for any hints of deceit or lies. He found nothing of the sort. But then again, he never found anything.

"I doubt I can hold a grudge against you," Riku sincerely told Axel. "You'd be a wreck without us anyway. Right Dem?"

Demyx sighed and nodded, getting himself onto his feet. "You're still a jackass though."

"Yeah…" Axel agreed.

Roxas stiffened at his response. The vampire sensed regret, sensed remorse, but moreover he sensed guilt. Axel had apologized. His shunned friends forgave him. And Axel put on a smile that Roxas knew all too well by now. A fake one.

Something wasn't in its rightful place…

…and Roxas would be damned if he didn't find out what it was.

_Where is this curiosity coming from_?

As things settled down and all five males got better acquainted, the lanky teen with red hair cleared his throat as softly as he was capable of doing. To the extent where only he and Roxas noticed. The vampire's ears twitched a little at the almost inaudible noise and blank brown eyes went for whatever Axel was motioning him for.

Reading thin pink lips, Axel soundlessly mouthed "Thank you".

Roxas grinned and nodded in acknowledgment.

.

The school day had long since passed and between passing periods while school was still in session, Axel had insisted for the blond to have a talk with him. It made Roxas a little nervous hearing that. Not very many things made him worry. He was a creature of the night. There was little to nothing that Roxas was afraid of. But lately... Axel seemed to break that notion. And that scared the daylights out of the elder.

They met each other in the student parking. Both of them waited for the packed lot to empty and when it nearly was, Roxas approached the said teen that unsettled him so.

"What's wrong?" Roxas asked.

"You said all that…" Axel incredulously said. "For me?"

Roxas fiddled with his bag and helmet, realizing that Axel was talking about what happened earlier that day. "Losing friends isn't fun. It'd tear me apart if that happened to you and I was the cause of it. I'm sorry I did that to you."

"Roxas," he said, making the vampire meet his glossy green gaze. "_Let me_…"

Blondie cocked his head. "Let you what?"

Axel shuffled closer, watching him with _very_ eager eyes.

_Oh shit_.

Roxas backed up and faintly shook his head. The situation he didn't like was coming back into play. Roxas continued to back walk and looked over his shoulder to see if he might collide into anything. Damn, there was an empty Mercedes closing in. When he turned back, Axel took him by surprise and pulled him into a warm embrace. His eyelids fell and his face became close. _Too close_.

Brown contacts illuminated into a bright shade of burgundy. He blinked rapidly, putting his hands to the planes of Axel's chest and shoved him off. The redhead was thrust backwards and he fell to the floor, bewildered at the action. Roxas turned to leave briskly at that.

"Roxas," Axel called out. "If you didn't want me to do that, all you needed to do–"

"Look at me!" Roxas snarled. He turned back with his contacts removed. Red eyes were aflame, taunting the teenager. "I can't do this. I _don't_ do this because of what I am. I won't risk either of us getting hurt. So I'm begging you with what little sanity I have right now… _stay away from me_."

Axel's eyes narrowed and he lifted himself from the floor. "That's your reason? You won't get close because you're afraid of getting hurt? Roxas, you can't live in a bubble for the rest of your life. Everybody gets hurt in relationships. It's something you have to learn to accept. Mortal or immortal, there's no difference. Why can't you just let me in?"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Roxas huffed.

"Obviously not. So help me to."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because…" Roxas responded. Blood red eyes glossed over tears and the vampire's shoulders drooped. "…I could _kill_ you. The littlest thing could make me snap and you'd be gone in an instant. I'm a murderer Axel. _I've killed before_. I could do it again just as easily and… I care about you too much to do you harm. I won't ever let it come to that. I'm too dangerous and you're too fragile. We won't wor–"

Axel ceased Roxas' muffled words with his mouth. Roxas let his school things clatter to the concrete below. His immortal heart pounded wildly beneath his chest and he prayed that Axel hadn't heard it. The only thing he managed to comprehend now was the feeling of warm lips pressing against his cold ones. Shocked by what was happening, Roxas could do nothing else but let his eyes close and softly nip back at the mouth that had claimed his own.

After a few moments of sharing their first passionate kiss, the redhead parted from the affectionate gesture with reluctance and chuckled. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm still alive. Aren't I?"

A crimson blush crept along Roxas' pale cheeks and his eyes became the familiar electric cobalt. He licked his lips, feeling the unique heat and tasting the sweet essence that Axel had left behind. Looking lost in thought, a few tears trickled from his blue eyes. Roxas turned on his heel and continued to walk away. Stubborn, Axel pulled him back and made the vampire to face him. His emerald eyes requested, _pleaded_ for an answer.

"I've hurt you before," Roxas managed to say. His leather gloved fingers lightly traced across the crook of Axel's neck. "I won't let that happen again."

Axel's hands held the immortal's face, brushing away tears with his thumbs. "You can't control everything around you, Roxas. Give me a chance. That's all I'm asking of you. Let me in and I promise to make my company the best you will ever know."

Roxas let his weak lips curve upwards. He didn't stop them from doing so either. No one has ever fought to be with him so badly as Axel was doing now. This made the immortal swell with encouraging feelings that he hadn't savored in decades. The most overwhelming feeling of all. Pure acceptance.

"You really don't care, do you? I mean, I could seriously harm you Axel and you just don't–"

"Roxas?"

Crystal blue eyes darted to the redhead. He scanned him carefully. The vampire sensed something. This time... he _loathed_ whatever was coming.

"What is it?" he countered.

"Do you think that maybe..." Axel trailed off with a mock laugh. "Never mind it's a stupid suggestion."

"What is it?" Roxas repeated more assertively.

As quick as Roxas' happiness came, it left just as quickly. Axel took a few glances around them and sighed. "I understand what you mean. We have chemistry but we're not... _compatible_. You're inhuman, I'm human. It would never really work but Roxas... what would you say if I wanted to... become what you are, too?"

"I'd say you were right" Roxas snorted. "That _was_ a stupid suggestion. Don't you _ever_ ask me that again. Because if you do, I just might do it. Just to prove to you that what I told you before was true. Blooding a human is agony. It's death, Axel. _Death_. I doubt you that's what you want. Or is it?"

"No" Axel half smiled. "I think I can come to an agreement on that... as long as I'm with you."

Roxas looked at him skeptically. The cute expression on Axel's determined face couldn't keep Roxas mad for long. The blond's smile came back twice as big. "Okay. You win, Axel. I'll give you a chance."

Beaming with excitement, Axel flung his arms around Roxas' middle and lifted him off the ground, twirling them in numerous dizzying circles.

Roxas protested to be let down and he was.

"Sooo" Axel connived, slinking his arm around Roxas' wobbly waist. "You know Prom is coming up soon..."

"Keep your tights on, Romeo" Roxas shot back with a scoff.

They shared a laugh and traded small talk before collecting their things and started off leaving the parking lot hand in hand.

Roxas hummed for a moment, quirking a mischievous grin that made Axel curious as to what had caused it. The immortal shortly stopped their walk. Again, Axel was curious why. It didn't take long for him to wonder why Roxas was acting so strangely. Leather bound hands tightened an unearthly grip onto clammy human ones.

"Would you like for me to take you home?" Roxas asked in a lulling tone that Axel was sure would make Angels sing.

"Uh... sure."

Too fast for Axel's apple green eyes to make out, Roxas' slim body was pressed against his own in a blurry flash. It reminded Axel of the feud between Roxas and Cloud. Not wanting to take his chances, the taller one made sure that he did nothing to provoke the sly creature of the night.

"I would hold on tight if I were you" Roxas growled fervently into the redhead's ear.

Swallowing thickly, Axel did as he was told. His wiry arms slinked around the vampire, anxiously inquiring, "What for?"

"This." Roxas curtly replied.

Writhing ribbons of black shadows shot up from the base of Roxas' worn boots. Axel gaped in awe as a dark chilling whirlwind spiraled around their hugging forms. Faster and faster the blackness spun. After a faint murmur of shock from the human, the darkness erased them entirely. Materialized.

Nothing but a sifting cloud of ink black smoke was left behind.

Around the bend however, was somebody who caught the entire confrontation that seemed to be ripped clean out of a science fiction thriller. The utterly bewildered eavesdropper stood quivering behind his car, not sure whether to take in everything as reality or a dream. Roxas' hellish eyes and the irrevocable disappearing act sure as hell convinced the silver haired teenager that whatever they were talking about before, was inexplicably the truth. Riku sidestepped with caution and shakily grappled for the black door to his Mercedes.

As he did so, two soft hands clamped over his mouth. Riku muffled a startled whimper and went to attack whoever did this. He stopped immediately when he realized who's hands they belonged to.

Sora glanced at the lingering shadow in the distance and then towards Riku's trembling eyes. He sighed, whispering, "Can you keep a secret?"

.

**I thought I'd like to share something funny with you guys. I'm a metal head so to speak and I've recently got back into my Rammstein phase. Well, as I was editing this chapter up the ass I've been listening to a song that I hadn't particularly favored until now. It's called "Mann gegen Mann". Yeah... that's German for "Man against Man". Listen to the song if you're a fan of metal and yaoi. SERIOUSLY. I was laughing so hard when I read the translation lyrics. Yup. "Man gay for Man" in other words. Very appropriate huh? Dammit, Rammstein has reached a whole other level of badass.**

**Boo me for not realizing that sooner. Oh well. Yay for AkuRoku-ness! I bet you're thinking _'Finally!'_**

**Axel: Caaan you feeel the looooove tonight???**

**Roxas: Aaand there goes your chance out the window.**

**Axel: W-what?!  
**


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